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To Kipper Salmon

A method of curing and smoking a whole salmon with salt, sugar, saltpetre, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,446 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

To Kipper Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean and scale the fish, but do not wash it.

  2. Split the fish and remove the bone.

Cure

  1. Mix salt, sugar, saltpetre, and black pepper.

  2. Salt the fish for 2-3 days, pressing it down with a board and weights.

  3. Stretch open each piece of fish with a stick and dry or smoke it.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, cut into thin slices and broil.

  2. If very dry, soak in water for 15 minutes before broiling.

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. Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,446 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Salmon + sugartop 35% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together931 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 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
Forms the body of the dish; its oily flesh becomes firm and flaky when cured and cooked.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the fish, firming its flesh during the cure.
Sugar
Balances the saltiness and helps give the cured fish a mellow flavour.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the fish and gives the cured flesh its characteristic reddish colour.

The step that matters

Salting for 2-3 days under pressure. Salt must penetrate evenly to cure the fish and draw out moisture. Pressing with a board and weights helps the flesh stay firm and the cure reach all parts. Too little time leaves the fish under-cured and unsafe to keep.

“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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