Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the cold boiled chicken into ½‑inch dice, discarding the skin.
Wash the white part of the celery and chop it into small pieces.
Soak the chopped celery in cold water until needed.
For every pint of chicken, use ⅔ pint of celery and 1½ cups of mayonnaise dressing.
Dress and serve
Make a French dressing with ⅓ cup vinegar, 1 cup oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
Mix the French dressing with the chicken and celery, and let it sit for several hours.
When ready to serve, mix in the mayonnaise and garnish with olives and white celery tips.
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.
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Chicken + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,888 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
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Celery + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,667 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein and bulk of the salad.
- Celery
- Adds crisp texture and a fresh, mild crunch.
- Mayonnaise dressing
- Adds richness and moisture, binding the salad together.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the oil.
- Oil
- Carries flavour and adds fat, giving the French dressing its body.
The step that matters
Letting the chicken and celery sit in the French dressing. Resting lets the acidic, oily dressing soak into the chicken and celery so the flavour penetrates rather than sitting on the surface. Adding the mayonnaise only at serving keeps the dressing from being diluted and keeps the celery crisp.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, vinegar, pepper, olive):
- Garlicfits better
- Rosemaryfits better
- Thymefits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, vinegar, pepper, olive. 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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