Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Salmon, Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Cut the salmon into slices or cutlets, removing the bone if desired.
Pat the salmon dry with a clean cloth.
Brush each piece with salad oil or butter.
Grill
Preheat a clean gridiron over a clear fire, ensuring it's at a distance.
Wipe the bars and rub with lard or suet to prevent sticking.
Place the salmon on the gridiron and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Cook until one side is brown, then carefully turn to brown the other side.
Other methods
Alternatively, place the salmon in a flat dish in the oven at 350°F (175°C) with a bit of butter or sweet oil.
You can also grill the salmon wrapped in buttered paper.
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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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Salmon + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,765 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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 and cooks through while the outside browns.
- Salad oil or butter
- Adds moisture and fat so the surface browns evenly and does not dry out.
- Lard or suet
- Greases the gridiron bars so the salmon releases cleanly without sticking.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the surface and helps draw out moisture for better browning.
The step that matters
Turning the salmon on the gridiron. Salmon is delicate and sticks or breaks if turned too early. Wait until the first side is well browned and releases easily from the bars, then turn it gently to keep the surface intact.
“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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