Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Broiled Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the fish and split it down the back.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and let it sit overnight.
Wash in cold water, wipe dry, and place in a wire broiler skin-side down over a clear fire.
Broil and serve
When it begins to cook through, turn it to cook the flesh side until golden brown.
Scatter bits of butter, pepper, and salt over the fish while hot.
Melt a teacup of butter and stir in a heaping ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper to serve as gravy.
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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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,446 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the main protein, which sets and turns flaky when cooked over direct heat.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the flesh during the overnight rest and helps draw out moisture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor and helping the surface brown.
The step that matters
Turning the fish. Turn it only once the flesh has begun to cook through, so the skin holds together on the wire broiler. Turning too early tears the fish apart, and cooking too long dries the flesh.
“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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