Name: Herrings in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients: 1 lb herring; 1 cup tomato sauce

Why it works: Tomato and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,469 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Herrings in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb herring
1 cup tomato sauce

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Clean and gut the herring.
Place the herring in a baking dish.

Bake

Pour the tomato sauce over the herring.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20-25 minutes.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Herring: Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it bakes.
Tomato sauce: Adds moisture that keeps the fish from drying and gives a tangy, acidic flavor.

The step that matters

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20-25 minutes.. Fish proteins set and turn opaque at moderate heat, then dry out and toughen if they keep cooking. Start checking at the shorter end of the time so the herring stays moist under the sauce.

“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.