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Salmon, Dried, Kippered, or Salted

A method of curing salmon by salting, drying, and optionally smoking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and sugar work together. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 931 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Salmon, Dried, Kippered, or Salted

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the salmon down the back.

  2. Empty the salmon.

  3. Scale the salmon.

  4. Wash the salmon.

Cure

  1. Rub the salmon inside and out with coarse sea salt.

  2. Hang the salmon to drain for 24 hours.

  3. Mix the pounded saltpetre, coarse sea salt, and sugar thoroughly.

  4. Rub the salmon with the mixture.

  5. Cover the salmon with salt.

  6. Let the salmon lie for 2 days.

  7. Turn the salmon over.

  8. Rub the salmon again with coarse sea salt.

Dry

  1. Wipe the salmon well.

  2. Stretch it open with two sticks.

  3. Hang the salmon in a dry place or a smoke‑house if smoking.

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. Salmon + sugartop 35% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together931 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
The main flesh, which firms and dries as it cures and is then hung to set.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture from the flesh, which slows spoilage and firms the texture.
Pounded saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the flesh and keep its colour.
Sugar
Balances the harshness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cure.

The step that matters

Covering and rubbing the salmon with the salt mixture. Salt draws water out of the flesh by osmosis, so the salt must reach every part evenly. Thin or missed areas can spoil or dry unevenly during the cure.

“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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