Name: Salmon Salad
Ingredients: 1 can salmon; 4 hard boiled eggs; 1 cup cabbage; juice of 2 lemons; dash of paprika; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Cabbage and lemon work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 397 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Chop the hard boiled eggs, salmon, and cabbage separately.
In a bowl, mix the chopped eggs, salmon, and cabbage.
Add the juice of 2 lemons, a dash of paprika, and ¼ teaspoon salt, then mix well.

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.

Cabbage + lemontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together397 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,485 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,918 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Salmon + cabbagetop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together94 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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 flaky texture of the salad.
Hard boiled eggs: Add body and a creamy, firm texture that binds the salad together.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the fish.
Cabbage: Adds crunch and moisture-holding bulk to the salad.