Name: Celery and Onion Sandwiches
Ingredients: Celery, finely chopped; Onions, finely chopped; Dressing (your choice); Whole wheat or white bread

Why it works: Celery and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Celery and Onion Sandwiches

Ingredients

Celery, finely chopped
Onions, finely chopped
Dressing (your choice)
Whole wheat or white bread

Directions

Finely chop the celery and onions.
Mix the chopped celery and onions with the dressing.
Spread the mixture between slices of whole wheat or white bread.

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.

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.

Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Celery + wheattop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together149 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Onion + wheattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together858 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).