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Salmon, Pickled

Salmon preserved by brining in salt, vinegar, and fish liquor, then packed and stored.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Fish and fennel work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50 recipes. Both carry anethole, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Salmon, Pickled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brine

  1. Clean the salmon carefully and cut it into pieces about 8 inches long.

  2. Make a strong brine by boiling 2 quarts of water with 2 pounds of coarse sea salt and ½ cup of vinegar.

  3. Drain the brine and let it cool, then pack the fish tightly in a kit or small tub.

Cover and cure

  1. Fill the kit with equal parts of best vinegar and the cooled brine.

  2. Shake the kit to pack the fish tightly and seal it as close as possible.

  3. Let it sit for 1-2 days, then refill as needed.

  4. Keep the kit in a cool place and close it quickly after each use.

Serve

  1. Serve with a garnish of fresh young fennel.

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. Fish + fenneltop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  2. Vinegar + fenneltop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together505 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Vinegar + fishtop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,036 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon (in the method)
The main ingredient, which the brine and vinegar preserve and flavour as it cures.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the fish and seasons it, firming the flesh as it cures.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fish.

The step that matters

Keep the fish fully submerged and sealed. Fish left exposed to air can spoil or dry out and oxidise. Packing the pieces tightly and filling the kit with brine keeps them covered, while a cool place and quick closing limit contamination and warming.

Swap the fennel

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

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Pepperfits about as well
  4. Fennelthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, fish. 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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