Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
To Fry Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
Fry the salmon slices until they are a pale brown.
Serve with plain melted butter and optional sauces.
For an alternative method, wrap the salmon slices in white paper and fry until done.
Serve the wrapped salmon with caper sauce or any preferred sauce.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Salmon + anchovytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together535 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Salmon + cucumbertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together513 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cucumber
The recipe marks cucumber as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter, anchovy, sauce):
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionfits about as well
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, anchovy, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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