Why it works: Cucumber and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,564 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Pare and slice the cucumbers extremely thin.
Soak the slices in ice water for at least 30 minutes.
Drain the cucumbers and place them on a clean towel.
Gather the towel around the cucumbers and shake briskly to dry the slices.
Mix the cucumbers with French dressing and serve immediately.
For variations, add thin slices of raw onion, finely chopped parsley, or chopped peanuts on 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.
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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Cucumber + parsleytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,564 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + peanuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together219 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Onion + peanuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,043 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
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, parsley, peanut):
- Lettucefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, parsley, peanut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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