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Chicken Salad

A salad of chopped chicken or turkey mixed with celery, mustard, eggs, oil, vinegar, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Chicken Salad

Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the chicken or turkey, removing all fat, gristle, and skin.

  2. Cut the celery into bits half an inch long or smaller.

  3. Mix the meat and celery, then set aside in a cool place.

Make the dressing

  1. Rub the yolks of the hard boiled eggs to a fine powder, then add salt, pepper, and sugar.

  2. Slowly mix in the salad oil, a few drops at a time.

  3. Add the mustard and let the mixture stand while whipping the raw egg to a froth.

  4. Beat the whipped egg into the dressing, then gradually add the vinegar while whipping well.

Combine and serve

  1. Sprinkle a little salt over the meat and celery, then toss lightly with a silver fork.

  2. Pour the dressing over the mixture, tossing until well combined.

  3. Transfer to a salad bowl and garnish with the whites of the boiled eggs cut into rings or flowers, and sprigs of celery tops.

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.

  1. Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,169 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Meat + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together855 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken or turkey
Provides the main protein and bulk of the salad.
Hard boiled eggs
Yolks are mashed into the dressing, adding richness and body.
Raw egg
Whipped to a froth and beaten in, it helps emulsify and lightly thicken the dressing.
Salad oil
Added slowly to the yolks, it forms a smooth, creamy emulsion.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil and eggs.
Celery
Adds crunch and a fresh, mild flavour to the salad.

The step that matters

Adding the oil slowly to the yolks. Oil must be added a few drops at a time so it emulsifies into the yolk mixture. Adding it too fast can cause the dressing to separate and turn greasy.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, mustard, egg, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Dillfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, mustard, egg, sugar, vinegar. 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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