Why it works: Olive and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,688 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Russian Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the lobster into thin scallops and place in a basin.
Add scalloped fillets of tuna, crayfish tails, prawn tails, stuffed olives, and French capers.
Mix and serve
Mix gently and add enough red mayonnaise sauce to moisten the mixture.
Use this mixture to fill a border of vegetables as described in the previous recipe.
Finish the entremets in the same manner and serve.
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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Olive + caperstop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,688 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lobster + crayfishtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together100 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Crayfish + saucetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together195 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Capers + saucetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together678 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main body of the salad, with firm, sweet meat in thin pieces.
- Thunny (tuna)
- Adds firm, meaty pieces and a rich flavour to the mixture.
- Red mayonnaise sauce
- Moistens the mixture and adds fat and richness that bind the pieces together.
- Stuffed olives
- Contribute salty, briny flavour and a contrasting texture.
- French capers
- Add acidity and a sharp, briny note that cuts the richness of the mayonnaise.
The step that matters
Mix gently and add enough red mayonnaise sauce to moisten the mixture.. Gentle mixing keeps the delicate seafood pieces intact, while adding mayonnaise gradually lets you moisten without making the salad greasy or loose.
“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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