Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Salmon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make a good pie crust and place it in a pie dish.
Season the salmon with coarse sea salt, mace, and nutmeg.
Grease the bottom of the dish with butter and lay in the salmon.
Melt butter in proportion to the size of the pie.
Chop the lobster flesh and mix it with the melted butter.
Pour the lobster mixture over the salmon.
Cover with the pie crust and bake until golden.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Salmon + lobstertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together313 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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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Butter + lobstertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, nutmeg, butter, lobster):
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, nutmeg, butter, lobster. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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