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 ↓
Finnan Haddie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Take a finnan haddock, boil and pick up.
Place in a chafing dish with about a tablespoonful of butter; let heat through.
Make the sauce
Add 1 cup of cream, yolk of a raw egg, a tablespoonful of grated cheese, and about 1 cup of cream sauce.
Cook the cream with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne, if liked.
Just before covering, add the grated yolk of 2 hard boiled eggs.
Serve
Serve on small pieces of toast.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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.
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich and thicken the cream mixture as they gently set with heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the fish a smooth, coating sauce.
- Grated cheese (in the method)
- Adds savory flavor and a little body to the creamy sauce.
The step that matters
Cooking the cream with the raw yolk. Egg yolk proteins set when heated, so if the cream is cooked too hot or too long the yolk can scramble and turn grainy. Keep the heat gentle and stir so the sauce thickens smoothly.
“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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