Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Cut smoked salmon into strips.
Broil the salmon over a clear fire until hot and marked with grill bars.
Serve
Transfer to a hot plate rubbed with lemon peel.
Baste liberally with butter.
Squeeze lemon juice over the salmon.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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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 + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,918 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
- Smoked salmon
- Is the main ingredient; its strips are heated through and gain grill marks under the broiler.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, coating the salmon so it stays silky rather than dry.
- Lemon
- Its juice adds acidity that brightens the rich, smoky flavour of the salmon.
- Lemon peel
- Its aromatic oils perfume the hot plate and lightly scent the salmon served on it.
The step that matters
Broil the salmon until hot and marked. Smoked salmon is already cooked, so heat only needs to warm it and set grill marks. Overcooking dries the flesh and toughens it, so watch it closely under the broiler.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter):
- Avocadofits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Mangofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter. 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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