Why it works: Lettuce and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 372 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the chopped shrimp, lettuce, celery, capers, parsley, salt, and paprika.
Just before serving, add the special salad dressing and toss gently.
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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Lettuce + caperstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Capers + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,550 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lettuce + celerytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,033 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Lettuce + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,483 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cooked shrimp
- Provides the main protein and substance of the salad.
- Lettuce
- Adds crisp, watery texture and bulk to the salad.
- Celery
- Adds crunch and a fresh, mildly vegetal bite.
- Capers
- Add briny acidity that cuts through the dressing and shrimp.
- Special salad dressing
- Supplies moisture, fat and seasoning that bind the salad together.
The step that matters
Adding the dressing just before serving. Lettuce wilts and releases water once dressed, so tossing the salad close to serving keeps it crisp and stops the dressing from thinning out.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, lettuce, capers, parsley):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Fennelfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, lettuce, capers, parsley. 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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