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Fish Relish

A baked casserole of minced fish, eggs, mashed potatoes, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fish Relish

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

  1. Dry the boiled roe well.

  2. Mince the cold fish and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Mix the roe with the butter and the yolks of the boiled eggs.

  4. Cut the whites of the boiled eggs into thin rings.

Layer and bake

  1. In a greased deep baking dish, layer mashed potatoes at the bottom.

  2. Add a layer of the minced fish.

  3. Add a layer of the drawn butter with the egg whites embedded.

  4. Repeat layers, finishing with mashed potatoes on top.

  5. Cover and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until it smokes and bubbles.

  6. Remove the cover for a few minutes to brown the top.

Serve

  1. Serve in the baking dish with pickles.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whites are set into rings for structure and the yolks enrich the roe mixture with richness.
Drawn butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying moisture through the layers as it bakes.
Mashed potato
Forms soft, absorbent layers that hold moisture and give body to the dish.
Cold fish
Forms the savory, flaky middle layer that sets as the dish bakes.
Roe
Adds a rich, delicate texture and savory flavor to the mixture.

The step that matters

Covering and baking until it smokes and bubbles. Baking covered keeps the layers moist while heat cooks the fish through; the uncovered step at the end then browns the surface through dry heat and Maillard reactions.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper. 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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