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Salmon Au Gratin

Salmon au gratin is baked salmon topped with sauce, breadcrumbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Separate the salmon into large flakes.

  2. Place the flakes in a fireproof baking dish.

  3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cover with sauce.

Top and bake

  1. Add a thin layer of lightly browned breadcrumbs.

  2. Dot with small pieces of butter on top.

  3. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 8 to 10 minutes.

  4. Serve in the baking dish.

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. Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  2. Salmon + fish saucetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together119 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Fish sauce + buttertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together141 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,446 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked salmon
Forms the main body of the dish and provides its flaky texture.
Fish sauce or white sauce
Adds moisture and richness so the salmon does not dry out while baking.
Brown breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden top layer through browning in the oven.
Butter
Adds fat and richness and helps the breadcrumb topping brown.

The step that matters

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 8 to 10 minutes. The dish is already cooked, so baking is mainly for heating through and browning the breadcrumbs. Too long can dry the salmon and sauce, while too short leaves the centre lukewarm and the topping pale.

“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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