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 ↓
Salmon
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Clean and prepare the salmon.
Season with salt and lemon juice.
Bake and serve
Place in a baking dish and dot with butter.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.
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.
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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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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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 protein of the dish, cooking to a flaky texture as it heats through.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the fish moist as it bakes.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and brightness that balances the richness of the fish and butter.
The step that matters
Bake until cooked through. Salmon dries out quickly when overcooked, becoming tough and chalky. Baking only until the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily keeps it moist.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter):
- Avocadofits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Mangofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter. 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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