Name: Tartare Sauce
Ingredients: 1 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; 2 tablespoons gherkins, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons capers, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Why it works: Capers and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tartare Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons gherkins, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons capers, finely chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Directions

Combine the mayonnaise with the chopped parsley, gherkins, chives, capers, and shallots, then mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
Serve with breaded and fried fillets of chicken, frog legs, sweetbreads, eels, broiled salmon steak, fried calf brains, or fried tripe.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Capers + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together405 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chive + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together450 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Chive + caperstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together245 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + caperstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,550 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mayonnaise: Forms the creamy base that carries the chopped flavourings through the sauce.
Capers: Add a sharp, briny acidity that cuts through rich fried foods.
Gherkins: Contribute tangy acidity and a crisp, chopped texture.
Shallots: Add a mild onion-like sharpness and aroma.