Name: Salmon Sandwich
Ingredients: two lemons; salt; pepper; vinegar

Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Salmon Sandwich

Ingredients

two lemons
salt
pepper
vinegar

Directions

Make the salmon mixture

Chop Spanish onions finely and mix with twice the quantity of canned salmon.
Season the salmon mixture with salt, red pepper, and a little vinegar.

Make the sardine mixture

Mix sardines with chopped pulp and grated yellow rind of lemon.
Season the sardine mixture with pepper and salt.
Use two lemons for one small can of sardines.

Serve

Spread the mixture on hot toast or toasted crackers.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

21Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

5 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson.". 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. See the original page.

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.

Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lemon + vinegartop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,334 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Canned salmon (in the method): Forms the main body of the filling, giving it its flaky texture and savory base.
Sardines (in the method): Add richness and a stronger fish flavor to the second filling.
Spanish onions (in the method): Add sharp aroma and a mild bite that balances the fish.
Lemons: Juice and grated rind add acidity and a bright citrus aroma that cut the oiliness of the fish.