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Salad

Salmon Salad

A salad of canned salmon, hard‑boiled eggs, celery, cucumber pickles, crackers, ketchup, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and optional vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Salmon Salad

Why it works: Cucumber and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,405 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the salmon, hard-boiled eggs, celery, cucumber pickles, and crushed crackers.

  2. Add the tomato ketchup, mayonnaise dressing, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper, then mix well until combined.

  3. If the salad is too thick, add vinegar to reach desired consistency.

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.

  1. Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  2. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  5. Celery + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,745 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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 flaked body of the salad.
Hard-boiled eggs
Add richness and a soft, creamy texture that binds the chopped ingredients.
Mayonnaise dressing
Adds fat and moisture so the salad holds together and feels creamy.
Crackers
Absorb moisture and add bulk, helping the salad hold its shape.
Celery
Adds crisp texture and a fresh, mild crunch.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, egg, cucumber, tomato, ketchup, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Dillfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, cucumber, tomato, ketchup, pepper, 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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