Name: Fish Pyramid with Green Sauce
Ingredients: 2 Ibs. COOKED FISH, boned and flaked (use haddock, halibut or any white fish); 1 cup CORE of the CABBAGE, sliced very thin; 2 TOMATOES, cut in small cubes; 1/2 tsp. BLACK PEPPER; 1 tsp. SALT; 2 Tbs. LEMON JUICE; 1/4 cup MAYONNAISE; 1/2 cup MAYONNAISE; 1/4 cup LEMON JUICE; 1/2 tsp. SALT; 1/4 tsp. BLACK PEPPER; 1/2 cup FRESH CHOPPED DILL or 1 Tbs. dried dill. (If dried dill is used add 1/4 cup chopped parsley to give the sauce its characteristic green color.); 1/4 cup PICKLE RELISH.; 2 HARD BOILED EGGS; 2 TOMATOES cut in slices; 1/4 cup BLACK OLIVES; 4 or 5 PARSLEY SPRIGS

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + dilltop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cabbage + dilltop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together47 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked fish: Provides the main body of the pyramid, with flakes that hold together when moistened and shaped.
Mayonnaise: Binds the fish and sauce, adding moisture and richness.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the fish and sauce flavour.
Cabbage: Adds crisp texture and body to the fish mixture.
Dill: Adds aromatic herbal flavour to the green sauce.

The step that matters

Shaping the pyramid with moistened hands. Wet hands keep the fish mixture from sticking, so it holds a clean shape without tearing. Moisture also helps the flaked fish and mayonnaise bind together into a firm form that stays intact when the sauce is poured over it.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, tomato, pepper, lemon, dill, egg, olive):

Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Cucumberfits better
Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, tomato, pepper, lemon, dill, egg, olive. 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
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Haddock	100g cooked	112
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Relish	not in our table	0

Fish Pyramid with Green Sauce