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Salmon Soup

A simple salmon soup made with onion, salmon, parsley, butter, milk, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salmon Soup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the onion until tender, then drain the water.

  2. Add the salmon, parsley, butter, salt, and pepper to the onion.

  3. Pour the milk over the mixture and bring to a boil.

  4. Serve immediately with slices of hard-boiled egg and a dash of cayenne.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 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

Onion
Softens when boiled and gives the soup a mild, savoury base flavour.
Salmon
Provides the main protein and rich fish flavour of the soup.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer mouthfeel and smoother texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base and, when heated, gives the soup a creamy body.

The step that matters

Bringing the milk to a boil. Milk can scorch on the bottom of the pan and curdle or form a skin if it is overheated or left unattended. Stirring and watching the heat keeps the soup smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, parsley, butter, pepper, milk, egg):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, parsley, butter, pepper, milk, egg. 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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