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 Mold
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately until light.
Mix the bread crumbs into the beaten egg yolks.
Rub the melted butter into the salmon.
Steam and serve
Combine the salmon mixture with the egg mixture in a well-buttered bowl.
Steam for 1 hour.
Serve with drawn butter sauce.
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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,485 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (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 provide structure as they set during steaming, while the whites add lightness.
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the mould and supplies the flavour and texture.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and help the mould hold together with a softer texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, coating the salmon and keeping the mould tender.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites separately. Whites beaten until light trap air that gives the mould its lift. If they are under-beaten or deflated when folded in, the mould turns dense.
“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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