Skip to main content
Main

Spiced Salmon

A salmon fillet pickled in a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spiced Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Boil the salmon until cooked, then let it cool and wipe dry.

Make the pickle

  1. Mix equal parts of the water from boiling the salmon and vinegar, enough to cover the fish.

  2. Add cloves, mace or nutmeg, whole pepper, and allspice to the mixture.

  3. Heat the mixture until it boils, then skim off any foam.

  4. Stir in the butter until melted, then pour the liquid over the fish.

Chill and serve

  1. Store in a cool place until cold and ready to serve.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Is the main protein, cooked first and then set in the spiced pickling liquid.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the fish and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Skimming the boiling pickle. Foam rising from the hot liquid carries impurities and proteins from the fish and spices. Skimming it off keeps the pickle clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar, clove, pepper, allspice, egg, butter. 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.

You might also like

Salmon SaladSalmon Salad155 recipesSalmon CroquettesSalmon Croquettes129 recipesCanned SalmonCanned Salmon14 recipesSmoked SalmonSmoked Salmon14 recipes