Name: Salmon Croquettes
Ingredients: 1 can of salmon; 1 egg; 2 tablespoons butter (size of a walnut); 3 tablespoons sweet cream; 2 tablespoons cracker crumbs; Juice of 1 lemon; 1 can of tomatoes (strained); 6 cloves; 2 tablespoons butter (size of a walnut) for sauce

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Salmon Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine the salmon, egg, butter, sweet cream, cracker crumbs, and lemon juice. Mix well.
Shape the mixture into croquettes and roll them in egg and crumbs.
For the sauce, heat the strained tomatoes in a saucepan.
Add thickening, cloves, and butter to the tomatoes. Stir until combined.

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.

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.

Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Walnut + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,150 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Walnut + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,149 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,592 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, egg, butter, walnut, cream, lemon, tomato):

Tarragonfits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, butter, walnut, cream, lemon, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.