Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Baked Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Drain the salmon in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Remove all bones and skin from the salmon and mince it.
Mix and bake
In a bowl, combine the minced salmon, bread crumbs, sweet milk, and butter.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the mixture to a fish dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) until heated through.
Serve
Serve with lemon and crackers.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 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).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Salmon
- Forms the main body of the dish and provides its flavor and protein.
- Brown rolled bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and help bind the minced salmon into a soft, cohesive mixture.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and softness, keeping the baked mixture tender rather than dry.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the surface brown during baking.
The step that matters
Transfer and bake until heated through. The mixture is moist and mostly cooked fish, so it can dry out if baked too long. Baking only until heated through keeps it tender while the crumbs and milk set it into a loose, sliceable texture.
“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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