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Salmon Cutlets, with Shallot Sauce

Salmon cutlets served with a shallot and vinegar sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 602 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Salmon Cutlets, with Shallot Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Remove the skin from the salmon fillet.

  2. Slice the fillet transversely and slantwise into pieces.

  3. Beat the slices slightly.

  4. Shape the slices into ovals.

  5. Sprinkle the cutlets with coarse sea salt.

  6. Dip the cutlets in oil.

Broil the cutlets

  1. Place the cutlets on a pre-warmed gridiron rubbed with oiled paper.

  2. Broil the cutlets on one side.

  3. Broil the cutlets on the other side.

  4. Baste the cutlets with oil while broiling.

Make the shallot sauce

  1. Combine chopped shallots and vinegar in a saucepan.

  2. Boil the shallot and vinegar mixture until reduced by half.

  3. Remove the sauce from heat and let it cool slightly.

  4. Stir in the egg yolks and good oil.

  5. Return the sauce to low heat and thicken while stirring continuously.

  6. Gradually add oil and lemon juice, stirring until combined.

  7. Finish the sauce with chopped tarragon and parsley.

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.

  1. Shallot + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together602 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tarragon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Lemon + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Emulsify with the oil and thicken the sauce as they gently heat.
Salmon fillet
Provides the protein that sets and firms as the cutlets cook.
Shallots
Add a mild sharp aroma that the reduction concentrates into the sauce.
Vinegar
Adds acidity, and reducing it by half concentrates its sharp flavour.
Lemon juice
Brightens the sauce with acidity that balances the rich oil and yolks.

The step that matters

Thickening the sauce over low heat. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heat but can scramble and curdle if the sauce gets too hot. Stirring constantly over low heat spreads the heat evenly, letting the yolks set into a smooth emulsion.

“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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