Name: Herring Salad
Ingredients: 3 Holland herrings; 3 hard-boiled eggs; 8 medium potatoes; 2 small beets; 2 onions; Roasted veal (amount to taste); 4 sour apples; A pinch of salt

Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Herring Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Soak the herrings overnight and cut them into small pieces.
Boil the potatoes and beets, then let them cool and chop finely.
Slice the onions and veal.

Assemble and serve

Cut the apples and eggs into small pieces and mix everything well.
Serve with French or mustard dressing.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + appletop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together603 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Onion + vealtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + appletop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,206 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + vealtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together343 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Herrings: Provide the main fish flavour and the bulk of the salad.
Potatoes: Add body and starch that hold the chopped ingredients together.
Sour apples: Add acidity and a crisp texture that balances the richness of the fish and eggs.
Hard-boiled eggs: Add richness and a soft, creamy texture to the salad.
Beets: Add earthy sweetness and a deep colour.