Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Baked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the salmon
Drain the liquid from the salmon and set the liquid aside for the sauce.
Flake the salmon into pieces.
Mix the salmon with melted butter, seasoning, eggs, and bread crumbs.
Transfer the mixture to a buttered bowl.
Steam and bake
Cover the bowl tightly.
Place the bowl in a pan of boiling water.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour.
After baking, briefly place the bowl in cold water to loosen the pudding.
Turn the mixture out onto a hot dish.
Make the sauce and serve
Prepare 1 cup of drawn butter.
Add the reserved liquid from the can to the butter.
Add a beaten egg.
Add pepper.
Add salt.
Add chopped pickle.
Add minced parsley, cabbage, or lettuce.
Bring the sauce to a boil.
Pour the sauce over the fish.
Serve the sauce in a gravy tureen.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Salmon + cucumbertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together513 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Pepper + cucumbertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,991 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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 pudding and supplies the flaky texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when heated, holding the pudding together.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and add bulk, giving the pudding a softer, more tender texture.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the salmon mixture.
The step that matters
Steaming the covered bowl in boiling water. Covering the bowl and setting it in boiling water heats the mixture gently and evenly. Too much heat or an uncovered bowl can dry the pudding or make the egg set unevenly.
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, egg, butter, bread, pepper):
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Cucumberthe original
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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