Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Salmon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove the salmon from the tin and flake it into small pieces.
Drizzle the salmon with a few drops of tarragon vinegar, anchovy sauce, and a sprinkle of cayenne.
In a bowl, mix the salad oil, tarragon vinegar, cracker crumbs, and seasonings.
Butter a pie dish.
Assemble and bake
Line the dish with the mixture, reserving some for the top.
Place the flaked salmon in the dish and cover it with the remaining mixture.
If the crust looks dry, add a few pieces of butter on top.
Bake until heated through.
Brown the top if necessary.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Salmon + anchovytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together535 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Provides the main protein and flaky filling that forms the body of the pie.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form the base and topping crust, absorbing oil and butter as they bake.
- Salad oil
- Adds moisture and fat to the cracker crumbs, helping the crust stay tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the crust and helps it brown on top.
The step that matters
Adding butter to a dry crust. Cracker crumbs can dry out in the oven, leaving a crumbly crust. Extra fat from butter keeps the surface moist and helps it brown evenly.
Swap the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, vinegar, anchovy, sauce, butter):
- Capersfits better
- Tarragonthe original
- Garlicfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar, anchovy, sauce, butter. 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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