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One Way to Use Canned Salmon

A quick fried patty made from canned salmon, eggs, cornmeal, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

One Way to Use Canned Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the canned salmon and place it in a quart bowl.

  2. Add the beaten eggs and cornmeal, then season with salt and black pepper.

  3. Form the mixture into small patties.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the patties until brown on both sides.

  2. Transfer to a platter and garnish with parsley.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Salmon + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

  5. Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,446 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Canned salmon
Provides the main body and flavor of the patties.
Eggs
Bind the salmon and cornmeal so the patties hold their shape.
Yellow cornmeal
Absorbs moisture and adds structure and a light crisp texture.

The step that matters

Fry the patties until brown on both sides. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs a hot, dry surface. Cooking over moderate heat with enough oil gives color and a crisp crust, while a crowded or cool pan lets the patties steam and stay pale and soft. Patties that are not firm before frying may also break apart.

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

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

  1. Dillabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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