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 ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Make the loaf
In a bowl, combine the flaked salmon, melted butter, beaten eggs, bread crumbs, pepper, and salt. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Transfer the mixture to a greased loaf pan.
Steam for 1.5 hours until set.
Make the sauce
For the sauce, make a white sauce by thickening milk with corn starch.
Stir in one beaten egg and the liquid from the can of salmon.
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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,485 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Provides the main body and flavor of the loaf.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm when steamed.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the loaf a softer, more tender structure.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a moister, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Steam until set. Egg proteins set as they heat, so the loaf needs enough steaming time to firm through. Stopping early leaves it soft and crumbly when sliced.
“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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