Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fish and Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Trim the halibut from the bone and slice it one-half inch thick.
Lay the slices on a plate, season with pepper, salt, lemon juice, and small pieces of onion.
Cover with another plate and let stand for twenty minutes.
Bake the fish
Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, dip each slice, roll and pin with skewers.
Lay the slices in a pan, dredge with flour, and bake for thirty minutes or until golden brown.
Make the sauce and serve
Melt one tablespoon of butter, add one tablespoon of flour, stir, then add half a pint of milk or cream, half a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of pepper; cook until thickened.
Serve the fish with the sauce poured around it, garnished with potato balls and parsley.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Halibut | 100g cooked | 140 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Halibut
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking into flaky, tender pieces.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps the fish brown in the oven.
- Flour
- Dredging helps the fish brown, and mixed with butter it thickens the sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the cream sauce, which thickens as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cooking the sauce until thickened. Flour must be stirred into melted butter and cooked through, or the sauce can taste pasty and form lumps. Adding the milk gradually while stirring keeps it smooth as the starch swells and thickens it.
“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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