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Marinated Salmon Roes

Marinated salmon roes seasoned with spices and preserved in oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Marinated Salmon Roes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the roes

  1. Wash the salmon roes in salt water for 1 minute and dry them with cloths.

  2. Smear the inside of a ceramic jar with sweet lard.

  3. Place the roes inside the jar.

  4. Cover the jar with leather.

  5. Subject the jar to a water bath for 3 hours.

  6. Let the roes cool.

  7. Pick out all films and specks from the roes.

Season and pack

  1. Mix the spices with the roes.

  2. Fill dry small jars with the mixture.

  3. Press the mixture down closely.

  4. Set the jars near the door of an oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.

Seal and store

  1. When cool, fill the jars with olive oil.

  2. Replenish the oil the next day.

  3. Tie a bladder tightly over the jars.

  4. Keep in a cool, dry room.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Salmon + roetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Nutmeg + olivetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,864 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salmon roes
Form the main body of the dish, setting into a firm, rich texture when cured.
Sweet lard
Coats the jar so the roes do not stick, adding a mild richness.
Olive oil
Covers the packed roes, excluding air and keeping them moist during storage.
Table salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the roes, helping preserve them.
Cayenne pepper
Adds heat and pungency to the roes.

The step that matters

Press the mixture down closely. Packing the roes firmly removes air pockets, which can otherwise let spoilage start. Keeping them submerged under oil afterward further limits contact with air.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, roe, nutmeg, pepper, olive):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, roe, nutmeg, pepper, olive. 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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