Name: Salmon Salad
Ingredients: 1 can of salmon; 1 cup of celery, finely chopped; mayonnaise dressing; lettuce leaves

Why it works: Celery and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,033 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

1 can of salmon
1 cup of celery, finely chopped
mayonnaise dressing
lettuce leaves

Directions

Prepare the salmon

Drain the oil from the salmon and remove all skin and bones.
Mix the salmon with the finely chopped celery.

Dress and serve

Pour mayonnaise dressing over the mixture.
Serve on lettuce leaves.

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.

Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,033 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Salmon + lettucetop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together487 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Salmon + celerytop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together658 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

Salmon: Provides the main protein and flaky, meaty body of the salad.
Celery: Adds crisp crunch and fresh texture that contrasts with the soft fish.
Mayonnaise dressing: Adds fat and moisture, coating the flakes and binding the salad together.