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Broiled Salmon, and Capers

A broiled salmon served with a caper sauce made from fish stock, coulis, and anchovy essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Capers and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 473 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

Broiled Salmon, and Capers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Cut the salmon into slices and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Butter a tart pan or sauté pan and place the salmon inside.

Cook the salmon

  1. Bake the salmon in the oven for about 15 minutes.

  2. Remove the salmon and place it on a grill to finish cooking.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Wash the capers and boil them in a little fish stock.

  2. Strain the stock, then mix in a little coulis and anchovy essence.

  3. Serve the sauce on a plate and place the salmon on top.

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. Capers + anchovytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together637 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Salmon + anchovytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together535 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Salmon + fishtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,078 recipes

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

  5. Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

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 is cooked through by oven heat and finishing on the grill.
Butter
Adds fat and richness and keeps the salmon from sticking to the pan.
Capers
Add a sharp, briny acidity that balances the richness of the fish.
Anchovy essence
Adds a deep savory, umami note to the sauce.

The step that matters

Removing the salmon at the right point. Salmon is easily overcooked because its proteins tighten and dry out with prolonged heat. Pulling it from the oven before it is fully done lets residual heat and the grill finish it gently while keeping it moist.

Swap the capers

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, pepper, butter, fish, anchovy):

  1. Capersthe original
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Thymefits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, pepper, butter, fish, anchovy. 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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