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Cullen Skink

A Scottish soup made with smoked haddock, potatoes, milk, and butter.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cullen Skink

Ingredients

Directions

Poach the haddock

  1. Cover the haddock with water in a shallow pan with skin side down.

  2. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, turning once.

  3. Take the fish from the pan and remove the skin and bones.

  4. Flake the fish and return to the stock.

  5. Add chopped onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper.

  6. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.

  7. Strain the stock and keep it ready.

  8. Discard the bay leaf and keep the fish warm.

Make the soup

  1. Add the milk to the fish stock and bring to the boil.

  2. Add mashed potato to make a rich and thick soup.

  3. Add the fish.

  4. Check the seasoning and add more if needed.

Serve

  1. When serving, add the butter in small pieces so it runs through the soup.

  2. Serve with chopped parsley on top.

  3. Toast by the side.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

577Calories
38 gProtein
21 gFat
61 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Mashed Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Haddock100g cooked112
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  3. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 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

Smoked haddock
Provides the main flavour and flaky texture of the soup.
Milk
Adds creaminess and body to the broth.
Mashed potato
Thickens the soup, giving it a rich, heavy texture.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when stirred in at the end.
Onion
Adds savoury sweetness and aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Adding the mashed potato. Potato thickens the soup as it is stirred in. Added to a boiling liquid without stirring or with lumps, it can clump or scorch on the base, so add it gradually and keep the soup moving.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, milk, butter, potato, pepper, parsley):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, milk, butter, potato, pepper, parsley. 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.

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