Why it works: Potato and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,052 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Turbot Gratiné, a LA Bourgeoise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the potato border
Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender.
Drain the potatoes.
Dry the potatoes in the oven.
Pass the potatoes through a sieve.
Mix the potato puree with butter, egg yolks, salt, nutmeg, and parmesan.
Place the mixture in a buttered and breadcrumb-coated mold.
Bake the border in the oven with a little water until set.
Prepare the turbot filling
Cut a quarter of a small turbot into squares.
Cook the fish squares in salted water.
Drain the fish.
Remove skin and bones from the fish.
Lightly break the fish into pieces.
Combine the fish with béchamel sauce.
Season the mixture with salt and nutmeg.
Assemble and brown
Invert the border onto a plate.
Fill the center with the turbot.
Sprinkle with parmesan.
Drizzle with butter.
Brown under high heat.
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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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Potatoes
- Form the set, sliceable border that holds the fish filling.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the potato puree and help it set firm when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the potato border and a glossy finish.
- Parmesan
- Adds savory flavor and helps the top brown under heat.
- Béchamel sauce
- Holds the flaked fish together and keeps the filling moist.
- Turbot (in the method)
- Provides the delicate, flaky fish filling at the centre.
The step that matters
Bake the border until set. Potato puree with egg yolks sets as the proteins coagulate. Baking too briefly leaves it soft and unable to hold its shape when inverted, while overbaking can dry it out.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, nutmeg, sauce):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Spinachfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, nutmeg, sauce. 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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