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Coulibiac of Salmon

A baked fish pie made with brioche dough, salmon, semolina, mushrooms, onions, eggs, and vesiga.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Coulibiac of Salmon

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Soak the dried vesiga in cold water for 4 hours.

  2. Cook the soaked vesiga in white consommé or water for 3½ hours.

  3. Stiffen the salmon collops in butter.

  4. Fry the mushrooms and chopped onion in butter.

Assemble

  1. Roll the brioche paste into rectangles 12 inches long and 8 inches wide.

  2. Layer the semolina, salmon collops, chopped vesiga, eggs, mushrooms, and onion on the paste, finishing with semolina.

  3. Moisten the edges of the paste.

  4. Fold over the layers.

  5. Seal to enclose the filling.

Rise and bake

  1. Place the coulibiac on a baking tray with the sealed side down.

  2. Let it rise for 45 minutes.

  3. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

  4. Make a slit in the top for steam to escape.

  5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

  6. Fill the coulibiac with melted butter when removing from the oven.

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

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

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Brioche + salmontop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together17 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Brioche paste
Forms a rich, tender pastry that encloses the filling and browns in the oven.
Salmon
Provides the main filling, with firm flakes and rich flavour.
Semolina
Absorbs moisture from the filling, giving the layers a firmer, drier texture.
Eggs
Bind the filling and set as it cooks, holding the layers together.
Vesiga
Long cooking softens it into a gelatinous texture that adds body to the filling.
Mushrooms
Add moisture and savoury, earthy flavour to the filling.

The step that matters

Make a slit in the top for steam to escape. The filling releases steam as it bakes. Without a vent, pressure builds inside the sealed pastry, which can split it open or make the filling soggy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brioche, salmon, mushroom, semolina, egg, butter, bread):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brioche, salmon, mushroom, semolina, egg, butter, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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