Name: Salmon and Fried Smelts
Ingredients: 1 whole salmon; 1 pound smelts; salt; pepper; flour; oil for frying

Why it works: Smelt and flour work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 164 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Salmon and Fried Smelts

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Clean and gut the salmon, then season with salt and pepper.
Dredge the smelts in flour, shaking off excess.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Fry the smelts until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Serve the salmon and fried smelts hot.

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.

Smelt + flourtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together164 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Salmon + smelttop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together67 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,446 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Salmon + flourtop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,776 recipes

Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).