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Salmon Loaf

A baked loaf made from canned salmon, crackers, egg, milk, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Salmon Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Remove the salmon from the can and flake it apart with a fork.

Make and shape the loaf

  1. In a bowl, combine the flaked salmon, rolled crackers, and beaten egg.

  2. Mix thoroughly, then add the milk and salt to taste.

  3. Mold the mixture into a loaf shape and dust the top with some of the rolled crackers.

  4. Dot the top with small pieces of butter.

Bake

  1. Bake for about 1 hour, using as little water as possible.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Salmon + eggtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,577 recipes

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

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 loaf and supplies its flavor and protein structure.
Egg
Binds the flaked salmon and crackers together so the loaf holds its shape.
Crackers
Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold together as a loaf.
Milk
Adds moisture so the loaf stays tender rather than dry.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the top, aiding browning and flavor.

The step that matters

Mix thoroughly before adding the milk. Thorough mixing spreads the egg and crackers evenly through the salmon so the binder works throughout. Adding the milk after that keeps the mixture from becoming too wet to shape into a firm loaf.

“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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