Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make and shape the loaf
In a bowl, combine the salmon, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.
Add the sifted soda biscuits and mix well.
Shape the mixture into a loaf and roll it in the remaining crushed biscuits.
Bake and serve
Place in a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool, then slice thinly to serve cold.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together841 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
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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Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,577 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
- Eggs
- Bind the salmon mixture so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
- Soda biscuits
- Absorb moisture and add body, giving the loaf structure and a light crumb.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that keeps the loaf tender rather than dry.
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the loaf and provides its flavour and protein structure.
The step that matters
Shape the mixture into a loaf. The mixture is soft and moist before baking. Packing it firmly and coating it in crumbs helps it hold together, so the loaf does not fall apart 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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