Name: American Sandwiches
Ingredients: 1 cup celery, chopped; 1 cup nuts, chopped; 1 tablespoon onion juice; heavy mayonnaise; thin slices of white, rye, or wheat bread

Why it works: Celery and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

American Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

In a bowl, combine chopped celery, chopped nuts, and onion juice.
Mix in heavy mayonnaise until well combined.

Assemble and serve

Spread the mixture between slices of bread.
Cut into desired shapes and serve.

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.

Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Nuts + ryetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).
Celery + ryetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together26 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Onion + ryetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together73 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Celery + nutstop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together169 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Celery: Adds crisp texture and fresh, watery moisture to the filling.
Nuts: Add crunch and a toasty, rich contrast to the soft filling.
Onion juice: Adds a sharp, aromatic bite that brightens the filling.
Heavy mayonnaise: Binds the filling together and adds fat for richness and moisture.
Bread: Provides the structure that holds and supports the filling.