Name: Salmon Loaf
Ingredients: 1 can salmon, bones and skin removed; 1 egg, beaten; 1 cup cracker crumbs; ½ cup milk; 1 tablespoon melted butter; salt to taste; pepper to taste

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 Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Preheat your steamer.

Make the loaf

In a bowl, combine the salmon, beaten egg, cracker crumbs, milk, melted butter, salt, and pepper, then mix well until fully combined.
Shape the mixture into a loaf.

Steam

Steam the loaf for 1.5 hours.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,481 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,485 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,577 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon: Provides the main body and flavor of the loaf.
Egg: Binds the mixture so the loaf holds its shape after steaming.
Cracker crumbs: Absorb liquid and give the loaf structure and a firm texture.
Milk: Adds moisture, keeping the loaf tender rather than dry.
Melted butter: Adds fat, contributing richness and a softer texture.

“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.