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Cold Salmon Pie

A chilled salmon and vegetable filling set in gelatin, served cold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,994 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Cold Salmon Pie

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Flake the cooked salmon into a bowl.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard.

  3. Combine the salmon with the mayonnaise mixture.

  4. Fold in the cooked peas and diced carrots.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold.

  2. Chill until set.

  3. Unmold the pie.

  4. Serve cold.

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. Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,994 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Lemon + carrottop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,351 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Salmon + peastop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together375 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,816 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Mustard + carrottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,073 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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the bulk of the pie and provides its main flavor and texture.
Mayonnaise
Adds moisture and richness, binding the salmon into a creamy filling.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when unmolded and sliced.
Dijon mustard
Adds sharp flavor that balances the richness of the mayonnaise.

The step that matters

Chill until set. The gelatin needs enough time in the cold to firm up fully. If the pie is unmolded too early, it will slump and lose its shape.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, lemon, peas, carrot, gelatin):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, lemon, peas, carrot, gelatin. 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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