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Tea-time Mackerel

This is basically a posh cheese on toast - made with smoked fish, silky cream and parmesan. The fresh horseradish gives a lovely kick. Leave out or add a sprinkling of chillies instead – as always it’s up to you!

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Chive and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 113 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tea-time Mackerel

Makes 4 toasts
Prep30 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

623Calories
24 gProtein
14 gFat
98 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Chives1 tbsp (3g)1
Mackerelnot in our table0
Horseradishnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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. Chive + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together113 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Pepper + horseradishtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,646 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Pepper + chivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,885 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Bread + chivetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together265 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Swap the chive

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, cream, pepper, horseradish):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Beetrootfits about as well
  4. Chivethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, cream, pepper, horseradish. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.