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Salmon Grilled

Grilled salmon slices seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 Grilled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wipe the salmon with a damp cloth.

  2. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil or oiled butter, then season with coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Grill

  1. Place the slices on a well-greased grill.

  2. Grill the fish over a bright fire or under a gas grill for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, depending on thickness.

Serve

  1. Once cooked, place the fish on a flat oval dish and spread with maître d’hétel butter.

  2. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon quarters, if desired, and serve hot.

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. Olive + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,649 recipes

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

  3. Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

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

  4. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Olive + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,887 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Forms the main protein, cooking to a firm, flaky texture when heated through.
Olive oil or oiled butter
Coats the surface to add moisture and help prevent sticking and drying on the grill.
Maitre d’hotel butter
Adds richness and herb flavour as it melts over the hot fish.

The step that matters

Grilling time by thickness. Salmon cooks quickly and dries out when overcooked, so thickness should guide timing. The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork, since continued heat keeps firming the protein and squeezing out moisture.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Garlicfits less well

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