Why it works: Salmon and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,765 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Half a Cold Salmon, with Mayonnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the salmon by cleaning and cooking it thoroughly.
Chill and serve
Chill the salmon in the refrigerator until cold.
Serve the cold salmon with mayonnaise sauce on the side.
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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Salmon + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,765 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Provides the main protein, whose flaky texture firms as it cooks and cools.
- Mayonnaise sauce
- Adds richness and moisture from its emulsified fat, balancing the lean cold fish.
The step that matters
Cooking the salmon thoroughly. Salmon must reach a fully cooked, safe internal temperature before chilling. Undercooked fish can carry harmful bacteria, and cooking it evenly keeps the flesh moist rather than dry.
“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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