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Roasted Branzino with Fennel

In this simple preparation from Liguria, Italy, the subtle flavor and texture of branzino, or sea bass, are lightlighted. Striped bass and red snapper are also good prepared this way. Marjoram is typical of Ligurian cooking, but other herbs, such as oregano or rosemary, can be substituted.

By williamssonoma · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and fennel share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 39 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By williamssonoma. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Marjoram + fenneltop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together39 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,036 recipes

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

  3. Marjoram + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together957 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Lemon + fenneltop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together723 recipes

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

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

Flavor stand-ins for the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, marjoram, olive, lemon, pepper, fennel):

  1. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, marjoram, olive, lemon, pepper, fennel. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).