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 Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the salmon finely and season delicately.
In a bowl, mix the salmon, cracker crumbs, milk, egg, and butter thoroughly.
Shape and fry
Form the mixture into croquettes.
Roll the croquettes in flour.
Fry the croquettes in boiling lard until golden brown.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape while frying.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb the milk and add body so the croquette mixture is firm enough to shape.
- Salmon
- Provides the main flavor and the bulk of each croquette.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the mixture stays tender rather than dry.
- Flour
- Dry coating that helps the outside brown evenly and crisp in the hot fat.
The step that matters
Frying in boiling lard until golden brown. The fat must be hot enough to brown the coating quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb grease, turn heavy, and can fall apart before the outside sets.
“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.
You might also like
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Canned Salmon14 recipes
Smoked Salmon14 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.