Name: Salmagundi
Ingredients: 1 inch deep bed of lettuce; flesh of the breast and wings of snipes, sliced into 3-inch long, ¼-inch wide pieces; 6 anchovies, boned and cut into 8 slices each; lean meat of the legs of snipes, diced; 1 lemon, diced; 4 hard-boiled egg yolks, minced; a little parsley, minced; small button onions, boiled until tender; beaten egg for glazing; finely grated bread crumbs for dredging

Why it works: Lemon and parsley 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 ↓

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.

Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lettuce + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,483 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lettuce + lemontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,559 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Snipes: Provide the main meat, forming the cooked body of the dish.
Anchovies: Add a salty, savoury depth that complements the meat and lemon.
Hard-boiled egg yolks: Bind the mixture and add a rich, creamy texture.
Lemon: Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat and yolks.
Bread crumbs: Form a crisp, golden crust during baking.
Beaten egg: Glazes the surface, helping it brown evenly and shine.

The step that matters

Baking until golden brown. The egg glaze and bread crumbs brown in the oven's dry heat. Too little time leaves the top pale, while too much dries the meat and yolk mixture. Watch the colour closely.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, meat, lemon, egg, parsley, bread):

Shallotfits better
Spinachfits better
Asparagusfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, meat, lemon, egg, parsley, bread. 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.

Salmagundi

Salmagundi

Ingredients

Directions

Assemble

Glaze and bake