Why it works: Salmon and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,446 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Salmon Smoked or Kippered
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Scale the salmon, split it down the back, and remove the head and backbone except for 3 inches at the tail.
Clean and dry the inside thoroughly.
Cure
Rub the inside with a mixture of common salt and Jamaica pepper in equal quantities and let it sit for 24 hours.
Drain well and rub the fish with a mixture of 1 lb coarse sea salt, 3 oz coarse sugar, and 1 oz saltpetre two or three times over 2 days.
Dry and smoke
Stretch the fish on sticks and hang it by the tail in the sun or near a fire for 3 to 4 days.
Suspend the fish in the smoke of a wood or turf fire until dry, usually for 15 to 20 days.
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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Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,446 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pepper + sugartop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Salmon + sugartop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together931 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Pepper and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 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 flesh that is cured, dried and smoked into the finished product.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and firms the flesh during curing, helping preserve it.
- Coarse sugar
- Balances the salt and adds mild sweetness to the cured flesh.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the fish and gives the cured flesh its characteristic pink colour.
The step that matters
Rubbing the cure in two or three times over 2 days. Salt draws water out of the flesh and the cure must penetrate evenly. Uneven or insufficient rubbing can leave wet or unevenly preserved areas that spoil during the long drying and smoking.
“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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