Why it works: Celery and mustard 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 ↓
Potato Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the potatoes until tender, then peel and cube them.
Chop the onion, hard boiled eggs, and celery, and combine with the potatoes in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg, then add mustard, flour, sugar, and salt; mix well.
Gradually add vinegar to the mixture, stirring continuously.
Slowly add milk while stirring, then heat over low flame until thickened like custard.
Remove from heat, stir in butter, and pour the dressing over the salad.
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.
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Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, egg, celery, sugar, flour, mustard, vinegar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, celery, sugar, flour, mustard, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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