Name: Shrimp Salad
Ingredients: 1 can shrimp; 1 bunch celery, finely chopped; 1 cup nuts (any kind); mayonnaise dressing

Why it works: Celery and nuts work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 169 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

1 can shrimp
1 bunch celery, finely chopped
1 cup nuts (any kind)
mayonnaise dressing

Directions

Drain the shrimp and place in a mixing bowl.
Add the finely chopped celery and nuts.
Mix everything together with mayonnaise dressing until well combined.

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 + nutstop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together169 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Shrimp + celerytop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together812 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Shrimp + nutstop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Shrimp: Provides the main protein and bulk of the salad.
Celery: Adds crisp texture and a fresh, mild crunch to the salad.
Nuts: Add crunch and a toasty, rich flavor that contrasts with the soft shrimp.
Mayonnaise dressing: Binds the ingredients together and adds moisture and richness.