Why it works: Onion and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,259 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
How to Stew Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the salt ling in water to remove excess salt.
Boil the fish until it can be easily flaked with a fork, then remove and discard the bones.
Boil the onions until tender, then chop them.
Slice the hard-boiled eggs.
Make the sauce
In a pan, mix butter and flour, then add the chopped onions, sliced eggs, and mustard or cornubian sauce.
Add the new milk and cream, and gently boil the mixture with the fish for about 30 minutes.
Serve
Serve the fish topped with the sauce, garnished with sliced egg and lemon.
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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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Salt ling
- Main fish that is flaked and gives the stew its body and savoury flavour.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add richness and a soft, creamy texture to the sauce.
- New milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding creaminess and mild sweetness.
- Cream
- Adds fat and smoothness, giving the sauce a richer mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce with butter, giving it body so it coats the fish.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the cream and eggs.
The step that matters
Thickening the sauce with butter and flour. Cooking the butter and flour together before adding liquid forms a roux. If the flour is not cooked enough or is added unevenly, the sauce can taste raw or form lumps. Adding the milk and cream gradually and simmering gently keeps the sauce smooth and prevents the dairy from scorching or curdling.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, onion, egg, milk, cream, butter, flour):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, onion, egg, milk, cream, butter, flour. 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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