Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Escalloped Salmon No. 2
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dressing
Thicken the milk in a saucepan until quite thick.
Season the thickened milk with salt, pepper, and butter.
Assemble and bake
In a baking dish, layer fish and the thickened dressing alternately.
Sprinkle toasted bread crumbs on top.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for one hour using both hot stones.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the creamy dressing that coats and moistens the fish as it bakes.
- Fish
- Main ingredient, layered with the dressing so it stays moist while it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour to the thickened milk dressing.
- Toasted bread crumbs
- Forms a crisp, golden topping as the dish bakes.
The step that matters
Thicken the milk until quite thick. A thick dressing clings to the fish and stays creamy in the oven, while a thin one runs out and leaves the fish dry and watery.
“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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