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Salmon Collared

A rolled salmon seasoned with salt, pepper, mace, and Jamaica pepper, simmered in vinegar and bay leaves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: White pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,695 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓

Salmon Collared

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Split a piece of salmon to make a roll.

  2. Wash and dry the salmon.

  3. Mix coarse sea salt, white pepper, pounded mace, and Jamaica pepper to season the fish.

  4. Rub the seasoning inside and out of the salmon.

  5. Roll the salmon tightly and bandage it.

Poach

  1. Add enough water and ⅓ cup vinegar to cover the salmon, along with bay leaves and salt.

  2. Cover and simmer until cooked through.

Finish and serve

  1. Drain the liquid and boil it quickly, then pour it over the salmon when cold.

  2. Serve with fennel.

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. White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  2. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  3. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. White pepper + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  5. White pepper + vinegartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming firm and flaky once cooked through.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the fish and firms its flesh as it rests with the spices.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the poaching liquid a sharp, bright flavor.
Bay leaves
Contribute a subtle herbal aroma to the poaching liquid.
Pounded mace
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavor to the fish.

The step that matters

Simmer until cooked through, not at a hard boil. A rolled fish cooks unevenly and its delicate flesh toughens and breaks apart when boiled vigorously. A gentle simmer lets the heat reach the centre slowly, keeping the roll moist and intact.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, mace, pepper, 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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