Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mixture
Cook the milk until smooth and thick.
Add the thin cream and salt to the milk mixture.
Fold in the finely rubbed salmon and beaten eggs.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a buttered mold.
Bake in a water bath at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
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 + 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).
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Cream + salmontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,485 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Milk + salmontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,577 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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 sets into firm, flaky pieces when baked.
- Eggs
- Set with heat to bind the salmon and hold the loaf together.
- Soft bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and help keep the loaf moist and tender.
- Milk
- Provides moisture and forms the base of the custard-like mixture.
- Thin cream
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.
The step that matters
Bake in a water bath. A water bath surrounds the mold with gentle, even heat. This sets the eggs and salmon through without overheating the edges, which would make the loaf dry, tough, or curdled.
“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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