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Salad

Diplomatic Salad

A salad of celery and truffles dressed with egg yolk mustard vinaigrette and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Diplomatic Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salad

  1. Combine celery strips and truffles in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar.

  2. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  3. Rub a bowl with garlic.

Make the dressing

  1. Mix sieved egg yolks and mustard in the bowl. Gradually add oil and vinegar, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Assemble and serve

  1. Drain the celery and truffles.

  2. Combine them with the dressing, chives, and parsley in a salad bowl. Mix well and arrange nicely.

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.

  1. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Garlic + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Truffles
Adds the main aroma and earthy flavour that defines the salad.
Hard-boiled egg yolks
Form a smooth, rich base that thickens the dressing.
French mustard
Emulsifies the oil and vinegar and adds sharpness.
Celery
Provides crisp texture and fresh, mild bulk.

The step that matters

Gradually add oil and vinegar to the egg yolks and mustard. Adding the oil slowly lets the yolk and mustard emulsify it into a smooth, stable dressing. Adding it all at once can split the sauce into separated oil and liquid.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, truffle, pepper, vinegar, egg, clove, mustard):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, truffle, pepper, vinegar, egg, clove, mustard. 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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