Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the potato, sugar, salt, and pepper smoothly together.
Gradually add the oil and stir until perfectly smooth.
Stir in the vinegar drop by drop and use as required.
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.
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boiled potato
- Its starch thickens the dressing and gives it a smooth, creamy body.
- Salad oil or thick cream
- Adds fat that makes the dressing rich and gives it a smooth, emulsified texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
The step that matters
Stirring in the vinegar drop by drop. Adding the acid slowly while stirring helps the oil and starch stay blended, so the dressing stays smooth rather than splitting or separating.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, vinegar, sugar, pepper. 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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