Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Salmon Timbales
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Pound the salmon very fine on a molding board.
Mix the salmon with the cream, egg whites, red pepper, and salt.
Put the mixture into small, well-buttered tins.
Bake and serve
Cover the tins with brown paper and place them in a dripping pan filled with cold water.
Cook in a 400°F (200°C) oven for twenty minutes.
Serve with white 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.
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Salmon + creamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,485 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 timbale when pounded fine and set by heat.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture soft and tender as it cooks.
- Egg whites
- Set when heated, giving the timbales their structure and holding them together.
The step that matters
Cover the tins and bake in a water bath. The cold water in the dripping pan surrounds the tins so the custard-like mixture heats gently. Covering the tins with paper shields the surface from direct heat, helping prevent a dry, rubbery texture and overbrowning.
“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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