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Halibut Salad

A salad of flaked halibut with peas, cucumbers, lettuce, and dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Halibut Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Rub the halibut slice well with coarse sea salt.

  2. Steam the halibut until the flesh easily separates from the bone.

  3. Remove the skin and bone, then flake the fish with a fork without mincing it too fine.

Dress and assemble

  1. Add salt and French dressing mixed with a few gratings of raw onion.

  2. Pour off any unabsorbed dressing before serving.

  3. Arrange the fish in a salad dish with layers of cold boiled peas and cubed cucumbers, then sprinkle with salt.

  4. Serve with lettuce leaves and salad cream or mayonnaise dressing.

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. Cucumber + lettucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,409 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Peas + lettucetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,293 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Peas + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + lettucetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,562 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Halibut
Forms the flaked fish base that gives the salad its main body and protein texture.
French dressing
Adds moisture and acidity, seasoning the flaked fish as it soaks in.
Raw onion
Contributes sharp, pungent aroma that cuts through the richness of the fish.
Cold boiled peas
Adds sweetness and a soft, tender texture between the layers.
Cucumbers
Provides cool, crisp texture and fresh moisture to balance the fish.

The step that matters

Steam the halibut until the flesh easily separates from the bone. Overcooking makes fish proteins tighten and dry out, so it becomes tough and crumbly rather than moist and flaky. Stopping as soon as the flesh releases from the bone keeps it tender and juicy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, cucumber, lettuce, cream):

  1. Beetrootfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Cauliflowerfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against peas, cucumber, lettuce, cream. 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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