Name: Smoked Salmon
Ingredients: dried salmon; butter or olive oil; lemon juice; boiling water; remoulade sauce or ravigote sauce

Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Slice the dried salmon and broil it in oiled paper cases.
Toss the salmon in butter or olive oil and serve with lemon juice.
Alternatively, place the salmon in boiling water for a few minutes. Once cooked, remove the salmon and let it cool.
Arrange the cooled salmon as a salad or serve with remoulade or ravigote sauce.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,481 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,918 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Salmon + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,765 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Dried salmon: Provides the main protein and the smoky, salty flavour that defines the dish.
Butter or olive oil: Adds fat that carries flavour and gives the salmon a richer, softer mouthfeel.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the rich, salty flavour of the salmon.