Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Make the loaf
In a bowl, combine the salmon, eggs, bread crumbs, and melted butter.
Mix well and steam for 1 hour.
Make the sauce
For the sauce, heat the milk in a saucepan.
Whisk in the cornstarch and ketchup, then add the juice from the fish.
Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in the beaten yolk of 1 egg.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + fishtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Salmon + fishtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,078 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it its flavour.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when heated, giving the loaf structure.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and soften the texture, keeping the loaf tender.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping keep the loaf moist.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the sauce, adding creaminess.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as it heats.
The step that matters
Stirring in the beaten egg yolk off the heat. Egg yolk thickens the sauce when gently warmed but scrambles and curdles if it boils. Removing the pan from heat before stirring in the yolk lets it thicken smoothly.
“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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