Why it works: Asparagus and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 808 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Darioles of Fillets of Soles
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fish
Prepare the fillets of soles and chill them.
Make two neat borders with the quenelle in two entrée dishes.
Place half of the fillets on each border.
Set and garnish
Bake the dishes in a 400°F (200°C) oven for a few minutes to set the quenelle.
Chop the aspic jelly finely and arrange it around the base of the fillets.
Melt ½ cup of aspic jelly and toss the asparagus peas in it until it begins to set.
Divide the asparagus peas between the two dishes, letting them rise high.
Glaze the small fillets lightly and arrange them in a circular form around the top of the large fillets.
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.
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Asparagus + peastop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together808 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fillets of soles
- Provide the delicate white fish that forms the main body of the dish.
- Quenelle
- Forms the neat border that holds the fillets in place and sets when baked.
- Aspic jelly
- Sets into a clear gel that glazes the fish and holds the garnish together.
- Asparagus peas
- Add a tender, bright green vegetable element that gives colour and contrast.
The step that matters
Baking the quenelle border. The quenelle must be set just enough to hold its shape around the fillets. Too little heat leaves it loose, while too much can overcook the fish and make the border dry or cloudy.
“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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