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Salmon Scallops

Salmon scallops are baked salmon mixed with butter, eggs, breadcrumbs, and seasonings, served in scallop shells.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salmon Scallops

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

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

  1. Chop the salmon finely.

  2. Mix the butter, pepper, salt, and parsley into the salmon.

  3. Stir the mixture into the hot drawn butter.

  4. Butter scallop shells or small baking dishes.

Fill and bake

  1. Fill the shells with the salmon mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for a few minutes until lightly browned.

  3. Serve in the shells.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

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

  4. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

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

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 filling and firms as it heats through.
Drawn butter
Adds fat and richness, keeping the salmon moist and flavourful.
Bread crumbs
Forms a topping that browns in the oven and adds a light crisp texture.

The step that matters

Bake until lightly browned. The salmon is already cooked, so the bake mainly heats it through and browns the crumbs. Overbaking tightens the proteins and dries the filling, so watch it closely and stop once it is lightly browned.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, egg, butter, bread, pepper):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, butter, bread, pepper. 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.

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