Why it works: Bluefish and butter work together. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 49 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Broiled Fish
Ingredients
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.
Prepare
Preheat your broiler.
Rub the double broiler with butter or a piece of salt pork to prevent sticking.
Broil and serve
Place the fish in the broiler, exposing the inside to the fire first.
Broil the fish according to its thickness: 12-20 minutes for mackerel, 20-30 minutes for young cod and bluefish, 12-20 minutes for salmon, and about 18 minutes for whitefish, bass, or mullet.
If the fish is thick, brown it over the coals first, then transfer it to a 350°F (175°C) oven to finish cooking.
Use a tin sheet to transfer the fish to the serving platter to avoid breaking it.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bluefish + buttertop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together49 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
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish; its flesh cooks through and firms under the heat.
- Butter
- Greases the broiler so the fish releases cleanly instead of sticking.
The step that matters
Broiling the fish by thickness. Cooking time depends on the fish's thickness and species. Too little time leaves the center underdone, while too much dries the flesh, which is why thick pieces may need finishing in a gentler oven.
“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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