Name: Grilled Smoked Catfish with Horseradish Cream
Ingredients: For the Horseradish Cream:; 1 cup créme fraîche (see Note); 1/2 cup prepared horseradish, drained; 1 teaspoon` Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon pepper; For the Smoked Catfish:; 2 cups water; 1 cup lemon juice; 5 cloves garlic, sliced; 4 shallots, sliced; 2 tablespoons salt; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill; 6 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish fillets

Why it works: Horseradish and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 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.

Horseradish + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,832 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Horseradish + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together134 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Mustard + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Crème fraîche: Adds rich, thick body and a mild tang to the cream.
Prepared horseradish: Provides the sharp, pungent heat that flavours the cream.
Catfish fillets: Main protein, which firms and flakes as it cooks over the coals.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the fish and balances the rich cream.

The step that matters

Grilling over medium-low heat. Catfish fillets are thin and delicate, so cooking over steady medium-low heat cooks them through gently and keeps them from drying out or sticking before they flake.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (horseradish, cream, mustard, dill, lemon, pepper, catfish):

Capersfits better
Parsleyfits better
Tarragonfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, cream, mustard, dill, lemon, pepper, catfish. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Horseradish	not in our table	0
Catfish	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Grilled Smoked Catfish with Horseradish Cream