Estonian Fish Soup

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. Mushroom + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,719 recipes

   Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

2. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together12,525 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

3. Tomato + dilltop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together511 recipes

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

4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

5. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together10,626 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish

Provides the main body and flavour of the soup as it cooks in the broth.

Sour cream

Adds richness and a gentle tang when stirred into each serving.

Mushrooms

Browning in the fat adds savoury depth to the soup base.

Flour

Thickens the broth slightly so the soup has more body.

Tomato paste

Adds acidity, colour and savoury depth to the broth.

Sweet sour dill pickle

Contributes sharp acidity and a briny note that balances the rich broth.

The step that matters

Swap the dill

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (snapper, fish, butter, onion, mushroom, flour, tomato):

1. Garlicfits better
2. Capersfits better
3. Thymefits better
4. Dillthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against snapper, fish, butter, onion, mushroom, flour, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.