Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Toasted Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Butter a sheet of paper and wrap the fish in it, pinning the corners if necessary.
Insert a toasting fork through the upper edges of the paper.
Toast the wrapped fish for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.
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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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Small fish (especially trout)
- Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps keep the fish moist inside the paper.
The step that matters
Toast the wrapped fish for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.. Fish proteins set as they heat, so the fish turns opaque and flakes when cooked through. Timing by size matters because too long over the fire dries out the flesh, while too short leaves the center underdone.
“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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