Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Prepare the pickle as for corning beef and let it cool.
Split the fish in the back and lay it skin down in a dish.
Pour the pickle over the fish and let it stand for three weeks.
Remove the fish, rub salt lightly over it, and let it drain well.
Smoke
Hang the fish in a dry, warm room on a beam.
Build a hard wood fire underneath, preferably using corn cobs, and let it smoke for three days without blazing.
Cook and serve
To cook, cut the fish into slices and pour boiling water over it to remove excess salt.
Frizzle the fish with butter or broil it after pouring the water.
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.
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Salmon + beeftop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together333 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon or halibut
- Forms the flesh that is cured, smoked and then cooked into the final dish.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the fish and firms its flesh during curing and draining.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness when the cooked fish is frizzled.
The step that matters
Building a smoldering fire without blazing. A hard wood fire kept smoky rather than flaming flavours the fish with smoke and dries it slowly. A blaze would cook and scorch the surface before the fish is properly smoked.
“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.
More smoked salmon recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Salmon Croquettes129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.