Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub a dish with a shallot.
Slice the cold boiled potatoes and arrange them on the dish.
Dress and serve
In a bowl, mix 3 parts oil with 1 part vinegar, adding pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.
Pour the dressing over the potatoes.
Strew finely chopped herbs or vegetables over the top.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Form the body of the salad and absorb the dressing as the main starch.
- Oil
- Carries flavor and gives the dressing a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Pour the dressing over the potatoes. Oil and vinegar separate quickly, so the dressing should be well mixed just before use. Dressing the potatoes while they are still cold lets them absorb it more evenly than warm, delicate potatoes would.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, parsley):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper, parsley. 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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