Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Creamed Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the filling
Chop the whites of the hard boiled eggs.
Mix the chopped egg whites with the salmon.
Melt the butter.
Mix the melted butter with the mashed egg yolks.
Stir in the salmon.
Bake
Pour in the cream and beat until light.
Add the bread crumbs and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until heated through.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + creamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Provides the main body and flavor of the dish.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the mixture a soft, creamy texture.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Add richness and help bind the mixture together as it sets.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the mixture body and a lighter texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor, helping the mixture feel rich and smooth.
The step that matters
Bake until heated through. Egg and cream mixtures set as they heat, so overbaking can make the dish dry and grainy while underbaking leaves it loose in the centre.
“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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