Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Broiled Fish
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
Wash and dry the fish.
Grease a broiler with butter or oil and place the fish on it.
Broil and finish
Broil the fish over a steady fire, cooking both sides evenly. Ensure the fish is cooked through to avoid rawness.
Once done, place the fish on a hot dish and sprinkle with pepper and coarse sea salt. Add pieces of butter on top and place in a 350°F (175°C) oven just long enough to melt the butter.
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.
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Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,446 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the main protein, which sets and turns flaky as it cooks through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and melts over the finished fish for flavour.
The step that matters
Cooking the fish through. Cooking both sides evenly and checking that the centre is fully cooked matters because thick fish can look done outside while remaining raw inside. Proteins set as they heat, so the flesh should turn opaque and flake easily.
“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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