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Salmon Loaf

A baked loaf made from canned salmon, eggs, butter, cracker crumbs, and pickles, served with a boiled pickle dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and cucumber work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 513 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Salmon Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the loaf

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a bowl, combine the salmon, eggs, melted butter, cracker crumbs, chopped pickle, salt, and pepper.

  3. Mix well and shape into a loaf.

  4. Place the loaf in a buttered dish and set it in a pan of boiling water.

Bake

  1. Bake for 1 hour.

Make the dressing and serve

  1. For the dressing, combine the salmon liquor, chopped pickle, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper, and celery seed in a saucepan.

  2. Boil while stirring constantly, then pour over the loaf before serving.

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 + cucumbertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together513 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  2. Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,991 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 loaf and provides the main flavor and protein structure.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set when heated, holding the loaf together.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb moisture and add bulk, helping the loaf hold its shape.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, moister texture.
Cucumber pickle
Adds acidity and sharp flavor that balances the rich salmon.

The step that matters

Boil the dressing while stirring constantly. The dressing contains egg, which can curdle or scramble if it overheats or sits still. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and lets the mixture thicken smoothly.

Swap the cucumber

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, egg, butter, pepper. 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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