Name: Salmon on Toast
Ingredients: 1 can of salmon; 1½ cups of milk; gravy; slices of toast; lemon juice

Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Salmon on Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Heat the contents of the can of salmon thoroughly.
Prepare 1½ cups of milk gravy.
Break the salmon into flakes.

Assemble and serve

Place the salmon neatly on slices of toast.
Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Cover with gravy and serve.

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.

Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,577 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,918 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon: Forms the main filling and provides the flaky, savoury body of the dish.
Milk gravy: Adds moisture and a creamy texture that softens the toast and binds the topping.
Toast: Provides a crisp base that holds the salmon and absorbs the gravy.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the salmon and gravy.