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Timbale of Salmon

A baked custard-like dish of salmon, eggs, cream, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Salmon and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,401 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Timbale of Salmon

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the salmon

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Remove the salmon from the can, discarding all bones and skin, and mash it finely.

Make the mixture

  1. Slowly mix in the cream, then add salt, pepper, and the beaten egg yolks.

  2. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the salmon mixture.

  3. Grease custard cups and fill them halfway with the mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the cups in a pan of hot water and bake for 15 minutes.

  2. Carefully remove the timbales from the cups, arrange on a platter, and garnish.

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. Salmon + creamtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Salmon + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,446 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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
Provides the main body and flavor of the timbale.
Eggs
Yolks enrich and bind the mixture, while whipped whites give the timbale its light, set structure.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the timbale tender rather than dry.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only when beaten until stiff, and gentle folding keeps that air in the mixture. Stirring vigorously deflates the foam, so the timbales may bake up dense instead of light.

“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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