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Pickled Salmon

Pickled salmon is salmon preserved in a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and allspice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,548 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Pickled Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the salmon

  1. Cut the salmon into pieces.

  2. Boil the salmon in salt and water until cooked.

Pickle

  1. In a pot, scald together the vinegar, peppercorns, and allspice.

  2. Remove from heat and let cool.

  3. Pour the cooled spiced vinegar over the salmon.

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. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  2. Salmon + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Salmon + allspicetop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together156 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

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

What each ingredient does

Salmon
Provides the main protein, which firms as it cooks and holds its shape in the pickle.
Vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that flavors the fish and helps preserve it.
Peppercorns
Add sharp, woody aroma that infuses into the spiced vinegar.
Allspice
Adds warm, clove-like aroma that infuses into the spiced vinegar.

The step that matters

Let the spiced vinegar cool before pouring it over the salmon. Hot vinegar would keep cooking the already cooked fish, making it tough and dry and causing it to break apart. Cooling it first keeps the salmon tender and intact.

Swap the allspice

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

  1. Dillfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar. 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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