Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Salmon Stkaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salmon
Remove the bones from the salmon carefully without mashing the flesh.
Cut the salmon into fillets or steaks about 1 inch thick.
Lightly dry the salmon with a cloth and dredge with flour without pressing.
Grill and serve
Prepare a clean grill and rub it with chalk to prevent sticking.
Broil the salmon thoroughly, turning with steak tongs.
Serve hot, wrapped in a heated napkin, with prawn or lobster sauce.
Alternatively, butter pieces of white paper, wrap each salmon slice, and secure with string.
Broil the wrapped salmon over moderate heat until cooked through.
Remove the paper and serve hot, garnished with fried parsley and prawn or lobster sauce.
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.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Salmon + lobstertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together313 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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; its flesh cooks through and firms under the heat.
- Flour
- Light dusting on the surface that helps the fish take on a little colour and hold its shape.
The step that matters
Broil the salmon thoroughly, turning with steak tongs. Salmon flesh is delicate and breaks apart easily; turning gently with tongs rather than a fork keeps the pieces intact. Cooking until the flesh is fully cooked through, without overdrying, matters because the fish firms and turns opaque as it sets.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, flour, butter, lobster):
- Capersfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, flour, butter, lobster. 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.
More salmon steaks recipes
You might also like
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Salmon Croquettes129 recipes
Lobster Croquettes99 recipesThe 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.