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Salmon Salad

A salad of canned salmon dressed with mustard, eggs, butter, vinegar, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Salmon Salad

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 ↓

Salmon Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Place a can of salmon in a kettle of hot water and boil for twenty minutes.

  2. Remove the salmon from the can and transfer it to a dish.

  3. Pour off the juice or oil.

  4. Add a few cloves around the salmon.

  5. Sprinkle salt and pepper over it.

  6. Cover with cold vinegar and let stand for one day.

Make the dressing

  1. Beat the yolks of two raw eggs with the yolks of one hard-boiled egg, mashed finely.

  2. Gradually add three tablespoons of melted butter (or best salad oil), one tablespoon of mustard, a little salt and pepper (black or cayenne), and vinegar to taste.

  3. Beat the mixture for a long time.

  4. (Optional) Add lemon juice and a little brown sugar.

Assemble and serve

  1. Cover the salmon thickly with part of the dressing.

  2. Tear up very small crisp inside leaves of lettuce, add to the remainder of the mixture, then pour over.

  3. Garnish with crisp lettuce leaves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

214Calories
7 gProtein
18 gFat
8 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 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 Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  5. Clove + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg yolks bind the dressing into a thick, stable emulsion.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the dressing.
Mustard (in the method)
Helps hold the emulsion together and adds sharp flavour.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the rich dressing.

The step that matters

Adding the melted butter gradually while beating. Fat must be added slowly so the egg yolks can disperse it into tiny droplets. Adding it too fast breaks the emulsion, leaving a greasy, separated dressing.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, pepper, vinegar, lemon):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, pepper, vinegar, lemon. 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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