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 ↓
Broiled Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the salmon
Preheat your grill or broiler.
Broil the salmon slices over a gentle fire for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once.
Finish and serve
Transfer the cooked salmon to a hot dish.
Butter each slice generously with sweet butter.
Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt and black pepper on each slice to taste.
Serve immediately.
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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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,446 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the dish and cooks to a flaky texture under heat.
- Sweet butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the cooked fish, carrying flavor across the surface.
The step that matters
Broiling the salmon over a gentle fire. Salmon dries out quickly under heat. A gentle fire and a careful turn help the slices cook through while staying moist, so the flesh flakes rather than toughens.
“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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