Name: Fish Soup
Ingredients: Catfish; Clams; Lobster; Oysters

Why it works: Clam and oyster work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 111 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Fish Soup

Ingredients

Catfish
Clams
Lobster
Oysters

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the catfish by cleaning and cutting it into pieces.
In a large pot, add the catfish, clams, lobster, and oysters.
Cover with water and bring to a boil.
Simmer until the seafood is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
Season to taste and serve hot.

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.

Clam + oystertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together111 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Lobster + oystertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together255 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Catfish + oystertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Clam + lobstertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Catfish + clamtop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).