Name: Canned Salmon
Ingredients: 1 can of California canned salmon; Salt, to taste; Pepper, to taste; Slices of toast; Egg sauce, for serving

Why it works: Salmon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,485 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Canned Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Open the can of salmon and drain it.
Heat the salmon in a pan, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Toast the slices of bread.

Serve

Serve the heated salmon on the toast and pour egg sauce over it.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,485 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Salmon + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,765 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,446 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Pepper + saucetop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,303 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together50,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Pepper and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 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

Canned salmon: Provides the main protein and flavour of the topping.
Toast slices: Give a crisp, dry base that holds the warm salmon without going soggy.
Egg sauce: Adds richness and moisture to the salmon topping.

“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.