Name: Cucumber and Poppy Seed Salad
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 500 g fresh cucumber (about 2-3 long green cucumbers, choose slim ones with small seeds); 1 mild red chilli pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced; 3 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander/cilantro leaves; 4 Tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar (I used Prosecco vinegar); 5 Tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil; 2 Tbsp poppy seeds; 2 Tbsp caster sugar; sea salt; freshly ground black pepper

Why it works: Coriander and sunflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 369 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Cucumber and Poppy Seed Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

500 g fresh cucumber (about 2-3 long green cucumbers, choose slim ones with small seeds)
1 mild red chilli pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar (I used Prosecco vinegar)
5 Tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
2 Tbsp caster sugar
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

75Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

18 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 10 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Seed	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Sunflower Oil	not in our table	0
Poppy Seed	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Coriander + sunflowertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together369 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cucumber + coriandertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together875 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Pepper + coriandertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,949 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Sunflower + poppy seedtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together32 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Cucumber + sunflowertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together85 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Swap the poppy seed

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, pepper, coriander, white wine, sunflower, sugar):

Dillfits better
Tarragonfits better
Cardamomfits better
Poppy seedthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, pepper, coriander, white wine, sunflower, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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