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Pickled Salmon

A salmon cured in a vinegar and spice brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Pickled Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salmon

  1. Clean the salmon.

  2. Cut the salmon into large pieces.

  3. Boil the salmon in salted water until cooked.

  4. Drain the salmon.

  5. Wrap the salmon in a dry cloth.

  6. Refrigerate the salmon overnight.

Make the pickling liquid

  1. Combine the boiling water, vinegar, black pepper, nutmeg, and mace in a kettle.

  2. Cover and boil the mixture to prevent flavor loss.

  3. Allow the vinegar mixture to cool completely.

Pack and store

  1. Pour the cooled vinegar over the salmon.

  2. Add sweet oil on top of the salmon.

  3. Cover the container tightly.

  4. Store in a cool, dry place for preservation.

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. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,415 recipes

Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Main protein; its flesh is what the pickling liquid preserves and flavors.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the fish.
Black pepper
Adds a sharp, pungent aroma to the pickling liquid.
Mace
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavor to the vinegar.
Nutmeg
Adds a warm, sweet aroma that rounds out the spiced liquid.
Sweet oil
Adds fat and richness, softening the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Pour the vinegar over the salmon only after it has cooled completely. The salmon is already cooked, and hot liquid would further firm and break down its flesh. Cooling the vinegar first keeps the fish intact and lets the flavors soak in gently.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, vinegar, pepper, nutmeg. 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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