Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
A Salmi, or Hash of Wild Fowl
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Boil the skin and trimmings of the wild fowl in good broth or gravy with the shallots until the flavor is imparted.
Strain the mixture, then heat and thicken it slightly with brown roux or browned flour.
Add the port wine, lemon juice, and cayenne to taste.
Finish and serve
Warm the birds slowly in the sauce without allowing it to boil.
Serve hot with fried sippets around the dish.
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.
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Shallot + lemontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,523 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,081 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Shallot + port winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together380 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wild fowl skin and trimmings
- Gives the broth a rich, savory meaty flavor.
- Brown roux or browned flour
- Thickens the sauce and adds a toasted, nutty depth.
- Port wine
- Adds sweetness and fruity depth to the sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich sauce.
The step that matters
Warm the birds without boiling. Boiling toughens the proteins in cooked meat, making it dry and stringy, and can cause a thickened sauce to break or separate. Gentle heat keeps the meat tender and the sauce smooth.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes