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Salmon Loaf

A steamed loaf of salmon mixed with butter, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Salmon Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Drain the salmon and reserve the liquid.

  2. Remove the skin and bones from the salmon.

  3. In a bowl, mash the salmon with melted butter until smooth.

  4. Add bread crumbs, parsley, lemon juice, and beaten eggs. Season with salt and cayenne. Mix thoroughly.

Shape and cook

  1. Press the mixture into a greased fish mold or a brick-shaped bread pan.

  2. Cover the mold with buttered paper, buttered side down.

  3. Place in a steamer and cook for 25 minutes.

Serve

  1. Remove from the mold and serve with Salmon Sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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 set when cooked, holding the loaf together.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and add body, giving the loaf a firmer, sliceable texture.
Salmon
Forms the main body of the loaf and provides its flavor and texture.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, keeping the loaf tender and moist.

The step that matters

Pressing the mixture into the mold. Packing the mixture firmly removes air pockets so the loaf holds its shape when unmolded. Loose packing can let the loaf crumble or fall apart after steaming.

“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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