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Pickled Mackerel or Salmon, Etc

A pickled fish dish made by boiling fish in vinegar and water, seasoned with bay leaves, pepper, salt, and additional vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Pickled Mackerel or Salmon, Etc

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean the fish thoroughly.

  2. Boil the fish gently in equal parts vinegar and water until cooked.

Make the pickling liquid

  1. Strain the cooking liquid.

  2. Add bruised bay leaves, whole pepper, and coarse sea salt to taste to the liquid and boil.

  3. Once cooled, mix in one-third the amount of fresh vinegar.

Pickle and store

  1. Pour the mixture over the fish.

  2. Use more vinegar for longer preservation.

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. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Fish + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,036 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish (mackerel or salmon)
Forms the main body of the dish and absorbs the flavour of the pickling liquid.
Vinegar
Provides acidity that firms the fish and gives the pickle its sharp, preserving character.
Fresh vinegar
Adds sharpness to the cooled liquid, brightening the flavour before it is poured over the fish.
Bay leaves
Contribute aromatic, herbal notes to the pickling liquid.
Whole pepper
Adds gentle heat and aroma to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Let the liquid cool before adding the fresh vinegar. Fresh vinegar is added after cooling because strong heat would drive off its volatile aroma and sharpness, leaving the pickle flatter and less bright.

“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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