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 ↓
Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Boil the chicken until very tender.
Remove the meat from the chicken and cut it into small pieces.
Mix the chicken with the chopped celery, and season with salt and pepper.
Make the dressing
In a pan, heat the butter until hot.
Beat the egg yolks and add the mustard.
Gradually mix in the sour cream and enough vinegar to taste.
Pour the mixture into the pan with the butter and stir continuously until it thickens.
Let the dressing cool, then stir half of it into the salad.
Serve
Pour the remaining dressing over the top before serving.
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 + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 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
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main body and protein of the salad once cooked and cut into pieces.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they set with gentle heat, giving it a creamy body.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture, tang and creaminess to the dressing.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the dressing, helping it feel smooth.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavour and helps emulsify the dressing.
- Celery
- Adds crisp texture and fresh, slightly savoury crunch to the salad.
The step that matters
Stirring the dressing while it thickens. Egg yolks can scramble and curdle if they overheat or sit still over heat. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly so the dressing thickens smoothly.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, butter, egg, mustard, cream, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, butter, egg, mustard, cream, 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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