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Salmon Loaf

Salmon loaf is a chilled dish made from flaked salmon mixed with a thickened gelatin mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Salmon Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Remove bones and skin from the salmon, then flake it.

Make the sauce base

  1. In a double boiler, combine salt, flour, mustard, cayenne, milk, and beaten egg; stir until thick.

  2. Dissolve gelatin in a small amount of cold water and add one spoonful of boiling water.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the thick mixture over the flaked salmon, add the dissolved gelatin, and pack into a mold to harden.

  2. Serve with mayonnaise dressing.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the bulk of the loaf and provides its flavor and flaky texture.
Egg
Thickens the milk mixture and helps bind the loaf together as it cooks.
Flour
Thickens the milk mixture into a stable base that holds the salmon together.
Gelatin
Sets the loaf so it holds its shape when packed and chilled in a mold.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the thickened mixture, adding moisture and richness.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor of the salmon.

The step that matters

Stirring the thick mixture in the double boiler. Egg and flour must be cooked gently over indirect heat and stirred constantly. Direct heat can scramble the egg, leaving lumps and an uneven base that does not blend smoothly with the salmon.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Cucumberfits better
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, flour, pepper, vinegar, egg, milk, gelatin. 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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