Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Boiled Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Put the salmon in a pot and cover it with boiling salted water.
Add a small piece of saltpetre to preserve the color, if desired.
Boil sharply for 1 minute, then reduce heat and simmer until done.
Cook for about 10 minutes per pound; a 5 to 6-pound fish will take 45 to 60 minutes.
Check and serve
To check for doneness, lift the fish and insert a knife to the bone; if the flesh lifts easily, it's done.
If needed, keep the fish warm by placing it on a drainer over steam, covered with cloths.
Serve the fish on a napkin, garnished with lemon and parsley.
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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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Salmon + fishtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,078 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Fish + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,889 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,918 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
- Is the main protein; its flesh sets and turns opaque as it cooks through.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the pink color of the flesh during cooking.
The step that matters
Simmer until done, not boiled hard. Sharp boiling toughens the delicate flesh and can break it apart, so the fish should be simmered gently. Doneness is checked by a knife easing into the flesh near the bone.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, fish, lemon):
- Capersfits better
- Dillfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, fish, lemon. 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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