Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the salmon, cracker crumbs, salt, eggs, cayenne pepper, melted butter, and lemon juice in a bowl.
Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Steam and serve
Transfer the mixture to a steaming dish and steam for 1 hour.
Serve with mushroom sauce or drawn butter sauce and parsley.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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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
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm while steaming.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the loaf body and structure.
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the loaf and provides its flavor.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, moister texture.
The step that matters
Steaming the loaf. Steam heat must be steady and the loaf fully set; eggs firm as they heat, so too little time leaves the loaf loose and too much can make it dry and rubbery.
“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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