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Sardine Salad

A salad of crackers, sardines, onion, eggs, pickles, mustard, pepper, salt, celery, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and celery 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 ↓

Sardine Salad

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the finely rolled crackers, minced sardines, chopped onion, chopped eggs, chopped pickles, mustard, black pepper, salt, and chopped celery. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

  2. Add just enough cold vinegar to moisten the mixture.

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.

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. Mustard + celerytop 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. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

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

  4. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Crackers
Provide the bulk and binding structure that holds the salad together.
Sardines
Supply the main fish flavour and a moist, soft texture throughout the mixture.
Hard boiled eggs
Add richness and a soft, creamy body that helps bind the mixture.
Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the fish and eggs.
Pickles
Contribute acidity and a crisp, tangy bite that balances the oily sardines.

The step that matters

Adding the cold vinegar. Vinegar is added only to moisten, so adding too much makes the salad soggy and sharp. Adding it gradually and mixing well lets the crackers absorb liquid evenly without losing structure.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Horseradishfits better
  2. Lettucefits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, pepper, celery, 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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