Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Slice cold boiled potatoes into pieces about 1 inch across.
In a bowl, combine parsley, onion, vinegar, and oil to make the dressing.
Pour the dressing over the potatoes and let them stand for 30 minutes before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Parsley + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Form the bulk of the salad and hold the dressing in their starchy surface.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
- Oil
- Adds fat and carries flavor through the dressing, coating the potatoes.
- Grated onion
- Adds sharp aroma and pungency to the dressing.
The step that matters
Let the potatoes stand after dressing. Cold potatoes absorb the dressing slowly, so resting lets the vinegar and oil penetrate the pieces and the flavors settle evenly before serving.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, vinegar, potato):
- Garlicfits better
- Dillfits better
- Thymefits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, vinegar, potato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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