Name: Chef John's Fisherman's Pie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks; 3 tablespoons butter; 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg; salt and ground black pepper to taste; 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste; 1/2 cup milk; 2 teaspoons olive oil; 12 ounces baby spinach leaves; 3 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 2 cups cold milk, divided; 2 teaspoons lemon zest; 1 tablespoon butter; salt and ground black pepper to taste; 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste; 2 pounds boneless cod fillets; 1/2 lemon, juiced; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives for garnish

Why it works: Nutmeg and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 603 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

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.

Nutmeg + spinachtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together603 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Potato + spinachtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together646 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Olive + spinachtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Pepper + spinachtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,400 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Potato + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,458 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, pepper, milk, olive, spinach, flour):

Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
Garlicabout as good a flavor fit
Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, pepper, milk, olive, spinach, flour. 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).

Chef John's Fisherman's Pie