Name: Escalloped Salmon
Ingredients: 1 can salmon steak, bones and skin removed; 2 eggs, well beaten; 1 cup bread crumbs; 2 tablespoons butter, cut into tiny bits; Salt and pepper to taste; 2 cups milk; 1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)

Why it works: Bread and butter 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

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

1 can salmon steak, bones and skin removed
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, cut into tiny bits
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups milk
1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Remove all bones and skin from the salmon and break it into small pieces.
If desired, add finely chopped onion for extra flavor.

Make and bake

In a bowl, stir together the salmon, beaten eggs, bread crumbs, butter, salt, and pepper.
Add the milk and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve

Serve immediately after baking.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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 provides its flavor.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving the dish structure.
Bread crumbs: Absorb the milk and eggs, helping the mixture hold together and become tender.
Milk: Adds moisture and creates a custard-like texture as it bakes with the eggs.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, contributing flavor and a softer texture.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, egg, bread, butter, pepper, milk):

Asparagusfits better
Potatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, bread, butter, pepper, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.