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Potted Shad

A fish dish where shad is seasoned, packed in a jar with cider vinegar, and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Potted Shad

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash and dry the shad pieces.

  2. Mix the allspice, black pepper, and coarse sea salt. Sprinkle the seasoning over each piece of shad.

Pot and bake

  1. Place the seasoned shad in a stone jar and cover with cider vinegar.

  2. Cover the jar with a clean cloth and tie several layers of brown paper over it. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 12 hours.

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. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Allspice + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Allspice + cidertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together873 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Shad
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender as it slowly cooks in the jar.
Cider vinegar
Covers the fish and adds acidity that gives the potted flavor its sharpness.
Ground allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor that penetrates the fish during the long soak.
Black pepper
Contributes sharp, pungent heat that balances the richness of the fish.

The step that matters

Covering the jar and baking low and slow. The jar must be sealed tightly with cloth and paper so vinegar and steam stay in and the fish cooks gently over 12 hours. A gap lets liquid evaporate, leaving fish exposed and drying out.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, cider, vinegar, fish):

  1. Tarragonfits about as well
  2. Allspicethe original
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cider, vinegar, fish. 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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