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Collared Salmon

A salmon fillet rolled, seasoned, and simmered in a vinegar broth, served with fennel.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: White pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,695 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓

Collared Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Cut a portion of salmon sufficient to make a roll.

  2. Wash and dry the salmon.

  3. Mix coarse sea salt, white pepper, ground mace, and Jamaica pepper to season the fish generously.

  4. Rub the seasoning inside and outside the salmon fillet.

  5. Roll the salmon tightly.

  6. Bandage the rolled salmon.

Poach

  1. In a pot, combine enough water and ⅓ cup vinegar to cover the salmon, adding bay leaves, salt, and both types of pepper.

  2. Cover the pot and simmer until the salmon is cooked through.

Finish and serve

  1. Drain the liquid.

  2. Bring the liquid to a boil, then pour it over the salmon when cold.

  3. Serve with 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. White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  2. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. White pepper + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  5. White pepper + vinegartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon fillet
Forms the body of the dish and sets firm and flaky when cooked through.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the fish deeply and firms its texture.
Vinegar
Adds acidity to the poaching liquid, giving a sharp, clean flavour.
Bay leaves
Adds a herbal aroma to the poaching liquid.
Ground mace
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the seasoning.

The step that matters

Simmering the rolled salmon. Keep the liquid at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil. High heat toughens the proteins and can break up the roll, while gentle heat cooks the fish through evenly.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, mace, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, mace, pepper, vinegar. 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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