Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Baked Salmon with Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Butter a large sheet of white paper and wrap the salmon in it, pinning the ends firmly together.
Melt 4 ounces of butter with 3 tablespoons of boiling water.
Place the wrapped salmon in a baking pan and pour the butter and water mixture over it.
Bake
Cover and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour, checking occasionally to ensure the paper is not burning.
Make the sauce and serve
Boil ½ pint of cream thickened with 1 heaping tablespoon of corn starch.
Add 1 ounce of butter, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and a small amount of pepper and salt to the cream.
Once the salmon is done, remove it from the paper, pour half of the sauce over it, and serve the remaining sauce in a sauceboat.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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, cooked gently inside the paper to stay moist.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries moisture over the fish while it bakes, keeping it from drying out.
- Cream
- Forms the base of the sauce, giving it a rich, smooth body.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the boiled cream into a smooth sauce as its starch gelatinizes with heat.
The step that matters
Boiling the cream with corn starch. Cornstarch needs to reach a boil to fully thicken; if it is undercooked the sauce stays thin, and if overheated or stirred roughly it can become lumpy or break down.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter, cream, corn, pepper):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Celeryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, cream, corn, pepper. 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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