Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Slice cold boiled potatoes and place in a bowl.
Add blanched and quartered almonds and a small quantity of chopped onions.
Pour a small amount of salad dressing over the mixture.
Garnish with chopped parsley.
Optionally, add sliced cold boiled beets, sliced lemon, and anchovies if desired.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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 bulk of the salad, providing body and a soft, starchy texture.
- Salad dressing
- Adds moisture and richness, coating the potatoes and onions.
- Blanched almonds
- Add crunch in contrast to the soft potatoes.
- Chopped onions
- Add sharpness and aroma that balance the richness of the dressing.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, parsley, lemon):
- Chickpeafits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Beansfits better
- Almondthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, parsley, lemon. 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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