Name: Moulded Fish Salad with Cucumbers
Ingredients: 2 lbs cold boiled halibut, cubed; 1/2 cup boiling fish stock; 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1 pint cream, whipped; 1 tablespoon granulated gelatine; 1 large fresh cucumber, diced; 1/2 cup cold fish stock or French dressing; water

Why it works: Fish and cucumber work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Moulded Fish Salad with Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Bone and cut the halibut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Soak the gelatine in cold fish stock or water, then add the boiling fish stock and stir until dissolved.
Let the mixture cool until it begins to thicken, then add the mayonnaise.
Beat the mixture until frothy, then fold in the whipped cream.
Gently stir in the halibut.

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.

Fish + cucumbertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Fish + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together937 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + cucumbertop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together787 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).