Why it works: Salmon and sugar work together. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 931 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Salmon, to Dry
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the fish down and remove the inside end roe.
Rub the whole fish with common salt.
Let it hang for 24 hours to drain, then wipe it well.
Cure
Mix the pounded saltpetre, coarse sea salt, and coarse sugar well.
Rub the mixture into the salmon.
Lay the salmon on a large dish or tray for 2 days.
After 2 days, rub the salmon well with common salt.
Dry
Let it dry for 24 hours.
Hang the salmon in a dry place, keeping it open with two small sticks.
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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Salmon + sugartop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together931 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
- Salmon
- The main ingredient; its flesh is what the salt cure firms and preserves.
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the flesh and firms it, slowing spoilage during curing.
- Saltpetre
- A curing agent that helps preserve the fish and keeps its flesh a pink colour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the fish and seasons it during the cure.
- Coarse sugar
- Mellows the harshness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cured fish.
The step that matters
Rub the mixture into the salmon. Salt draws water out of the flesh and protects it from spoilage only where it reaches. Thorough, even coverage prevents under-salted spots where bacteria can grow during the long cure.
“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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