Name: Salmon Pudding, to Be Served Hot or Cold
Ingredients: 1 pound boiled salmon, skin and bones removed; ½ pound fine bread crumbs; 1 teaspoon essence of anchovies; ¼ pint cream; ¼ teaspoon fine salt; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 4 eggs

Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Salmon Pudding, to Be Served Hot or Cold

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Pound or chop the salmon finely, or rub it through a sieve.

Mix and shape

Blend the salmon with the bread crumbs, essence of anchovies, cream, salt, cayenne, and whisked eggs until well combined.
Press the mixture into a buttered deep dish or mold.

Bake

Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

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.

Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Salmon + creamtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,401 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,485 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Salmon + breadtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together941 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 body of the pudding and gives it its main flavour.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and give the pudding a soft, sliceable body.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set it into a firm, custard-like texture as it bakes.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding tender rather than dry.
Essence of anchovies: Adds a savoury, salty depth that enhances the salmon flavour.

The step that matters

Baking until set. Eggs coagulate as they heat, so the pudding needs the full hour at temperature to firm up. Pulling it early leaves a loose, wet centre that won't hold its shape when turned out or sliced.

“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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White Bread80 recipes

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Salmon Pudding, to Be Served Hot or Cold