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Salmon, to Boil

A method of boiling salmon in salted water with vinegar, then draining and garnishing with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,477 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salmon, to Boil

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the salmon

  1. Place the salmon in a kettle with plenty of cold water and a handful of coarse sea salt.

  2. Add a small quantity of vinegar to firm the fish.

  3. Boil gently for about 50 minutes, or longer if the fish is thick.

  4. Check for doneness by inserting a knife between the bone and the fish; it should separate easily.

Drain and serve

  1. Lay the salmon on a fish strainer across the kettle to drain while keeping it hot.

  2. Prepare a fish plate with a clean white napkin, place the salmon on the napkin, and garnish with parsley.

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 + parsleytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,477 recipes

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

  2. Salmon + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

  3. Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the main body of the dish; cooking gently sets the flesh into moist, flaky pieces.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that helps firm the fish during poaching.

The step that matters

Boiling gently and checking doneness. A hard boil toughens and breaks up the delicate salmon flesh, while gentle simmering cooks it evenly. Testing with a knife between bone and flesh shows when the fish is cooked through and separates easily.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Dillfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar. 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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