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Souced Salmon

A salmon fillet simmered in water, then coated with a vinegar and spice mixture and left to marinate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Souced Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the salmon

  1. Boil the salmon in 1 cup of water until cooked.

Pickle and serve

  1. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup of vinegar with your choice of whole spices and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

  2. Pour the vinegar mixture over the salmon.

  3. Let it sit for 24 hours before serving.

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 + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  2. Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. 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

Salmon
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming firm and flaky when cooked.
Vinegar
Acidity that sours and preserves the salmon as it soaks.
Cayenne pepper
Adds heat to the marinade, carried into the fish during soaking.

The step that matters

Letting the salmon sit for 24 hours. The acid in the vinegar needs time to penetrate the fish and change its texture and flavor. Serving too early leaves the salmon sharp on the surface and underseasoned inside.

“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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