Name: Fish Baked À LA Russe
Ingredients: 300 g fish (pike,cod, cat-fish, perch).; 300 g potatoes boiled.; for Sour cream sauce.; 300 g sour cream.; 20 g flour.; 15 g oil.; 60 g cheese.; salt.

Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Fish Baked À LA Russe

Time30-40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and assemble

Grease a pan with fat, put sliced potatoes around and fish slices in the center, salt.

Add sauce and bake

Mix sour cream with oil and flour thoroughly and pour over.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1156Calories

61 gProtein

38 gFat

138 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pike	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

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

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,787 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Potato + cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together959 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Fish + potatotop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together134 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,655 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,355 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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 and becomes flaky and tender when baked.
Potatoes: Add starchy bulk, absorb juices and soften as they bake alongside the fish.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tang, keeping the fish from drying out in the oven.
Flour: Thickens the sour cream sauce so it clings to the fish and potatoes.
Cheese: Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, cream, sauce, flour, cheese):

Mustardfits about as well
Horseradishfits about as well
Potatothe original
Spinachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, cream, sauce, flour, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Potato Croquettes255 recipes

Fried Fish120 recipes

Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes

Fish Croquettes81 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Fish Baked À LA Russe