Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Salmon Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
Make the loaf
In a bowl, combine the salmon, beaten eggs, salt, pepper, and melted butter.
Stir the mixture well and pour it into a greased pan.
Steam the pan for 1 hour.
Make the sauce and serve
For the sauce, bring the cream (or milk) to a boil.
In a small bowl, mix the flour with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
Once the milk is boiling, thicken it with the flour mixture, then add the butter and egg yolk.
Turn the salmon loaf onto a platter and pour the sauce over it.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Salmon + creamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Bind the salmon and set into a firm, sliceable loaf as they cook.
- Salmon
- Forms the main body and flavor of the loaf.
- Flour
- Thickens the cream or milk into a smooth sauce.
- Cream or milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding richness and body.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to both the loaf and the sauce.
The step that matters
Thickening the sauce. Flour must be mixed smoothly with melted butter before it goes into the boiling liquid, otherwise it clumps. Adding it to boiling liquid lets the starch swell and thicken the sauce evenly.
“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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