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
Make the dressing
In a saucepan, combine vinegar, egg yolks, mustard, pepper, salt, sugar, butter, and chopped onion.
Cook the mixture over medium heat until it thickens.
Dress the potatoes
Pour the dressing over the boiled and chopped potatoes.
Toss gently to combine.
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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Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + potatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they cook, giving it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that flavours the dressing.
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the salad and absorb the dressing.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Cook the dressing until it thickens. Egg yolks set when heated, so cooking over medium heat gently thickens the dressing. Too much heat can scramble the yolks and leave lumps, while too little leaves the dressing thin.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, egg, mustard, pepper, sugar, butter, potato):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, egg, mustard, pepper, sugar, butter, 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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