Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Crimped Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the salmon into 1.5 to 2-inch thick slices.
Soak the slices briefly in a strong saltwater solution, then wash them well.
Cook and serve
Place the salmon in a pot of fast-boiling salted water.
Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until cooked through.
Serve hot on a napkin with lobster sauce and melted butter, or with caper fish sauce.
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.
-
Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Salmon + lobstertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together313 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Salmon + fish saucetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together119 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Main protein; its flesh firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour to the cooked fish.
The step that matters
Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until cooked through. Salmon proteins firm and then tighten as they heat, so leaving it in the water too long squeezes out moisture and leaves the flesh dry and grainy. Check for opaque flesh that flakes easily near the earliest point in the range.
“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.
You might also like
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Salmon Croquettes129 recipes
Fried Fish120 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.