Why it works: Salmon and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 535 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Salmon Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Season the salmon slices with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Butter a sheet of white paper and lay each slice on a separate piece, twisting the ends.
For higher seasoning, add chopped herbs and a little spice.
Cook and serve
Broil the salmon gently over a clear fire for 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve with anchovy or caper sauce.
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 + anchovytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together535 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Pepper + anchovytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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, cooking into flakes as its proteins set.
- Butter
- Greases the paper so the fish releases cleanly and adds richness to the surface.
- Anchovy or caper sauce
- Adds salty, sharp acidity that balances the richness of the cooked salmon.
The step that matters
Broil gently over a clear fire. Salmon dries out and turns tough when cooked too hot or too long, since its proteins tighten and squeeze out moisture. Gentle heat and a short time keep the flesh moist and flaky.
“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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