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Salmon Loaf

A steamed loaf made from flaked salmon, breadcrumbs, eggs, butter, salt, poultry seasoning, parsley, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the steamer.

Make the loaf

  1. In a bowl, combine the salmon, bread crumbs, egg yolks, melted butter, salt, poultry seasoning, and parsley.

  2. Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a greased loaf pan.

Steam

  1. Steam for one hour until set.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Red salmon
Provides the main protein that forms the body of the loaf.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and add richness and structure as they set with heat.
Egg whites
Whipped air folded in gives the loaf a lighter, more tender texture.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help hold the loaf together while it sets.
Melted butter
Adds fat for moistness and a richer mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Beaten egg whites trap air that gives lift and tenderness. Folding gently keeps that air in the mixture; stirring vigorously deflates it, leaving a denser loaf.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, bread, egg, butter):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, bread, egg, butter. 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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