Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,047 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
A Quick Relish of Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salmon
Parboil the salmon for 10 minutes.
Soak the salmon in cold water for another 10 minutes.
Wipe the salmon dry.
Cook and serve
Broil the salmon over a clean fire.
While hot, butter the salmon and season with cayenne and lemon juice.
Arrange the salmon in a 'log-cabin' square on a hot plate and serve with dry toast.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,918 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Smoked salmon
- Main ingredient, supplying the smoky flavor and flaky texture of the relish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps moisten the salmon while it is hot.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and cuts the richness of the fish and butter.
The step that matters
Broil the salmon over a clean fire. Smoked salmon is already cooked and dries out and chars quickly over direct heat. Watching it closely keeps it moist and prevents scorched, bitter flavors. Buttering it while hot then restores moisture and richness.
“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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