Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Boil the white meat of the chickens until cooked, then chop it coarsely.
Chop the white part of the celery and combine it with the chicken, using a little more chicken than celery.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, then slowly add the oil drop by drop while continuing to beat.
Add the lemon juice, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, and salt to the mixture.
If the dressing is not moist enough, beat the egg whites and fold them into the dressing.
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.
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Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Celery + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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
- Emulsify the oil into the dressing, giving it a thick, creamy body.
- Oil
- Provides fat and richness, carrying the flavour and moisture of the dressing.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to add lightness and moisture when the dressing is too stiff.
The step that matters
Adding the oil to the egg yolks. Oil must be added slowly, drop by drop, while beating. Egg yolk lecithin holds the oil in tiny droplets; adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving a greasy, separated dressing.
“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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