Name: Smoked Salmon
Ingredients: smoked salmon; olive oil; vinegar; lemon

Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

smoked salmon
olive oil
vinegar
lemon

Directions

Soak the smoked salmon overnight, changing the water three times to keep it warm.
In the morning, rub the salmon to remove smoke and rust.
Leave the salmon in ice water for half an hour, then wipe it dry.
Rub the salmon with olive oil and vinegar.
Broil the salmon over a clean fire.
Serve with sliced lemon.

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.

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.

Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Salmon + olivetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,942 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Salmon + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,918 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Vinegar + lemontop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,334 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).