Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Make the loaf
Mix the salmon, cracker crumbs, eggs, butter, salt, and pepper together until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a buttered bowl or dish and steam for 1 hour, keeping it covered.
Serve
Once cooled, turn the salmon loaf out of the bowl.
Slice thinly and garnish with parsley or thinly sliced lemon.
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.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,485 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable loaf when cooked.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb moisture and add body so the loaf holds together when sliced.
- Salmon
- Provides the main body and flavor of the loaf.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the loaf.
The step that matters
Steaming the loaf covered. Gentle, covered steam heats the egg mixture evenly so it sets without drying out. Keeping the lid or cover on holds in moisture, which prevents a dense or rubbery 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.
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