Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salmon Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Drain one can of salmon through a colander.
Butter a baking dish.
Make the sauce
Combine one pint of milk, half teaspoonful minced onion, chopped parsley, corn starch, a lump of butter half the size of an egg, pepper and salt.
Let the mixture boil until it thickens to the consistency of drawn butter.
Set the mixture to cool.
Assemble and bake
Spread a layer of the mixture in the dish.
Spread a layer of salmon, interspersed with fine bread crumbs.
Sprinkle bread crumbs and tiny bits of butter over the last salmon layer.
Bake for one-half hour.
Garnish with parsley.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the thickened liquid base that binds the salmon layers together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor, and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and form a crisp, browned topping over the salmon.
The step that matters
Boil the sauce until it thickens. The corn starch only thickens once the mixture reaches a full boil and the starch swells. If it stays thin, the layers will be loose and watery after baking.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cream, butter, egg):
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cream, butter, egg. 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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