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Salmon with Cucumber Dressing

A chilled salmon custard served with cucumber dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and mustard 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 with Cucumber Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk in a boiler.

  2. Beat together salt, sugar, gelatin, egg yolks, vinegar, and mustard in a bowl.

  3. Add the mixture to the hot milk and cook until thick.

  4. Remove from heat and fold in the salmon gently.

Set and serve

  1. Pack the mixture into a mold that has been dipped in cold water.

  2. Chill until set and serve with cucumber 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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they cook and help bind it into a sliceable set.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled and unmolded.
Salmon
Provides the main body and flavor of the custard, folded in gently to keep pieces intact.
Whole milk
Forms the liquid base that the yolks thicken into a smooth custard.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness of the yolks and milk.

The step that matters

Cook until thick without boiling. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but overheating can curdle them into a grainy texture. Cook slowly and stop once the custard coats a spoon.

Swap the mustard

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

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

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