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Salmon, Pickled

Salmon preserved by brining in salt and vinegar and packed in a kit.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and fennel work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 505 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Salmon, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. Clean the salmon carefully and cut it into pieces about 8 inches long.

  2. Make a strong brine by mixing 2 pounds of coarse sea salt and ¼ pint of vinegar into 2 quarts of water.

  3. Boil the brine slowly and let it cool.

  4. Drain the brine.

Pack and cure

  1. Pack the salmon pieces tightly in a kit or small tub.

  2. Fill the kit with equal parts of best vinegar and the cooled brine.

  3. Let it sit for 1-2 days, then refill as needed.

  4. Pack the fish tightly and seal the kit as close as possible.

  5. Keep the kit in a cool place.

  6. Add fresh vinegar if necessary.

Serve

  1. Serve with a garnish of fresh young fennel.

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. Vinegar + fenneltop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together505 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon (in the method)
The main fish, which the brine and vinegar gradually firm and preserve.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the fish and seasons it through the brine.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that preserves the fish and gives it a sharp, tangy flavour.

The step that matters

Pack the fish tightly and seal the kit. Keeping the salmon fully submerged in the liquid and sealed from air limits spoilage and keeps the curing even. Any exposed fish can spoil or dry out.

“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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