Name: Canned Salmon
Ingredients: 1 can of California canned salmon; salt; pepper; buttered toast; thickened milk

Why it works: Salmon and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,577 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Canned Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Heat the canned salmon in a saucepan.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the heated salmon on buttered toast.
Pour thickened milk over the salmon on toast.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,577 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Pepper + milktop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together26,984 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,446 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

Canned salmon: Provides the main protein and flavor of the dish, warmed through in the saucepan.
Thickened milk: Adds a creamy, saucy moisture that coats the salmon and softens the toast.
Buttered toast: Gives a crisp, rich base that holds the salmon and absorbs the sauce.

“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.