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To Tickle Salmon

A pickled salmon prepared by boiling in vinegar, salt, bay leaves, mace, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

To Tickle Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Poach the salmon

  1. Cut the salmon into pieces and place them in a kettle.

  2. Cover the salmon with water and add vinegar, salt, bay leaves, mace, and black pepper.

  3. Boil for 45 minutes.

  4. Drain the salmon and wrap it in a cloth.

  5. Repeat the process with remaining salmon.

  6. Adjust the pickle with more vinegar and salt if needed.

  7. Boil for another 45 minutes.

Pickle and pack

  1. Once cooled, pack the fish in a deep vessel.

  2. Cover with the pickle, ensuring no air is trapped.

  3. Occasionally boil the pickle liquid.

  4. Skim the pickle liquid.

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. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,415 recipes
  4. Salmon + macetop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together550 recipes
  5. Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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
The main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks in the brine.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the fish in the pickle.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the fish and draws moisture out, firming its texture.
Bay leaves
Contribute a subtle aromatic, herbal flavor to the pickle.
Black pepper
Adds mild heat and aroma to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Covering the fish with pickle, ensuring no air is trapped. Fish exposed to air can spoil and develop off-flavors, while full immersion in the acidic, salty liquid keeps the surface protected and preserves the texture.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Dillfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar, 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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