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Salmon Au Gratin

A baked salmon dish topped with sauce, breadcrumbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,481 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Salmon Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Separate the salmon into large flakes and place them in a fireproof baking dish.

  3. Sprinkle the salmon with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

Assemble and bake

  1. Barely cover the salmon with fish sauce or white sauce.

  2. Add a thin layer of lightly browned breadcrumbs on top.

  3. Dot with small pieces of butter.

  4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until heated through.

  5. Serve directly in the baking dish.

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

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

  2. Salmon + fish saucetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together119 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Fish sauce + buttertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together141 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked salmon
Forms the main body of the dish and supplies its flavour and protein structure.
Fish sauce or white sauce
Adds moisture so the salmon stays tender while it heats through.
Brown breadcrumbs
Forms a crisp, golden top layer through browning in the oven.
Butter
Adds fat that enriches flavour and helps the top brown as it melts.

The step that matters

Barely cover the salmon with the sauce. Too much liquid will make the dish soupy and dilute the breadcrumb topping, while too little leaves the salmon dry as it heats. A light, even coating keeps the fish moist and lets the top crisp.

“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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