Name: Steamed Salmon
Ingredients: 1 cup cream plain; salt; pepper; lemon juice

Why it works: Pepper and lemon 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 ↓

Steamed Salmon

Ingredients

1 cup cream plain
salt
pepper
lemon juice

Directions

Prepare

Pick 1 can of salmon into nice pieces.
Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Add 1 cup cream plain or whipped, and beat till smooth.

Steam and serve

Steam in a well greased mould for 45 minutes.
Garnish with slices of hard boiled eggs, lemon, and sprigs of parsley.
Serve mashed potatoes or potato balls with it, and sai'cc Ilollandaise.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

69Calories

1 gProtein

6 gFat

6 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
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 Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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.

Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together21,449 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + lemontop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,640 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

What each ingredient does

Salmon (in the method): Forms the main body of the dish and supplies its flavour and protein.
Cream plain: Adds moisture and a smooth, rich texture to the mixture.