Why it works: Vinegar and fennel work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 505 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pickle Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the fish carefully without scraping off the scales and cut into pieces about eight inches long.
Make a strong brine by mixing 2 pounds of coarse sea salt with 2 quarts of water and ¼ pint of vinegar.
Boil the brine slowly, just enough for eating hot, then drain off all the liquid.
Pack and pickle
When the brine is cold, lay the fish pieces in a kitchen or small tub, packing them as closely as possible.
Fill the container with equal parts of best vinegar and the liquid from boiling the fish.
Let it sit for a day or two, then refill as needed.
Serve
Serve with a garnish of fresh fennel.
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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Vinegar + fenneltop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together505 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon (in the method)
- The main protein, whose firm flesh is cured and seasoned by the brine and vinegar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the fish, helping preserve it during pickling.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fish.
The step that matters
When the brine is cold, lay the fish pieces in a kitchen or small tub, packing them as closely as possible.. Adding fish to brine that is still warm can partly cook the flesh and soften its texture. Packing the pieces closely keeps them covered by the liquid so they cure evenly.
“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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