Name: French Salad Dressing
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon finely grated onion; 1 tablespoon vinegar

Why it works: Olive and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,779 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

French Salad Dressing

Ingredients

¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely grated onion
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions

Make the dressing

Mix the black pepper and coarse sea salt in a bowl.
Add the olive oil and finely grated onion, then stir well.
Pour in the vinegar and mix until combined.

Dress the salad

Drizzle the dressing over your salad and stir until well mixed.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).