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Kippered Mackerel

A method of curing and smoking mackerel to produce kippers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,077 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Kippered Mackerel

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split the mackerel down the back, leaving the thin side connected at the tail, and remove the roes and livers.

  2. Remove the gills and wipe the insides clean.

  3. Rub the insides lightly with olive oil and let them sit skin side down for 3 hours.

Make the brine

  1. Boil the rock salt, coarse sea salt, saltpetre, coarse sugar, and water for 15 minutes, skimming well.

  2. Lay the fish in an earthen pan with thyme, bruised allspice, and bay leaves.

  3. Pour the boiled brine over the fish at about 150°F (65°C) and cover tightly.

Dry and smoke

  1. After 36 hours, remove the fish, wipe them dry, and stretch them open with wooden splints.

  2. Hang the fish in a strong air current; if they become clammy, place them near a fire for 1 hour.

  3. Smoke the fish until they are a nice chestnut brown color using a mixture of oak chips, fern, and beech chips.

Store

  1. Store the smoked fish packed face to face with dry oiled paper between each.

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. Thyme + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,938 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Sugar + thymetop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,682 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Mackerel
Oily flesh that takes on smoke and salt well, giving the finished fish its rich texture.
Rock salt or common salt
Draws moisture out of the fish and seasons it, firming the flesh during curing.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the fish and gives the cured flesh its characteristic pink-red color.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and aids browning during smoking.
Oak chips or sawdust
Provides the smoke flavor and the brown color on the fish's surface.

The step that matters

Drying the fish before smoking. A wet or clammy surface resists smoke and can spoil, so the fish must be wiped dry and hung in moving air until the surface is dry before smoking.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, allspice):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, allspice. 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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