Name: Salmon Salad
Ingredients: 1 can red salmon; 6 small sweet pickles, finely chopped; 4 eggs; vinegar (to soften yolks); a pinch of salt; cayenne pepper

Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Chop the egg whites finely.
Mix the egg yolks with enough vinegar to soften.
Add a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper to the yolk mixture.

Assemble

Combine the salmon, chopped pickles, and both egg mixtures.

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.

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.

Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,485 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,675 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,446 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together12,922 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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

What each ingredient does

Red salmon: Provides the main body and flaky texture of the salad.
Eggs: Yolks are softened into a creamy binder while chopped whites add texture.
Sweet pickles: Add sweetness and a bright, tangy note that balances the salmon.
Vinegar: Softens the egg yolks so they blend smoothly into the mixture.

“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.