Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Cheese Salad
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine grated onion, whipped cream, salt, and pepper.
Dissolve the gelatin in a small amount of warm water and add to the mixture.
Pour the mixture into six small cups or molds.
Chill until set.
Serve with cooked 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.
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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Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,827 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Onion + gelatintop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together211 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Onion and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, pepper, gelatin):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Lettucefits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, pepper, gelatin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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