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Salmon Pie

A baked dish of chopped salmon, mashed potatoes, breadcrumbs, butter, eggs, and milk, topped with browned breadcrumbs and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Salmon Pie

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 the filling

  1. Remove skin and bones from the salmon and chop it coarsely.

  2. In a bowl, combine the salmon, mashed potatoes, white breadcrumbs, and oiled butter.

  3. Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper, then stir in the eggs and enough milk to form a stiff batter.

Bake and serve

  1. Grease a baking dish and pour in the salmon mixture.

  2. Sprinkle the top with browned breadcrumbs and add small bits of butter.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour, or until set.

  4. Serve hot or reheat before serving.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the main body of the pie and gives it its flavour.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set firm when baked.
Mashed potatoes
Add body and moisture, keeping the filling soft and tender.
White breadcrumbs
Absorb liquid and help give the mixture a stiff, sliceable texture.
Milk
Loosens the mixture into a batter and adds moisture as it bakes.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and browns the topping in the oven.

The step that matters

Adding the milk to form a stiff batter. Too much milk leaves the pie wet and slow to set, while too little makes it dry and crumbly. Eggs set as they heat, so the liquid balance determines the final texture.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter, egg, milk, pepper):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, egg, milk, pepper. 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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