Why it works: Pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Sole or Cod Pie
4 personsIngredients
Directions
Prepare and bake
Clear the fish from the bones, lay it in a pie dish, and between each layer put a few oysters and a little seasoning; add the stock, and, when liked, a small quantity of butter; cover with puff paste, and bake for 1/2 hour.
Finish and serve
Boil the cream with sufficient flour to thicken it; pour in the pie, and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Oyster | 6 medium (84g) | 81 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
-
Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Oyster + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,886 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Cream + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,009 recipes
-
Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,663 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
- Oysters
- Add briny, savoury flavour that carries through the fish layers.
- Puff paste (in the method)
- Forms a flaky, browned crust that seals the pie during baking.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the boiled cream so it sets into a sauce rather than running.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, becoming a thickened sauce with the flour.
- White stock
- Provides liquid that moistens the fish and oysters as the pie bakes.
The step that matters
Thickening the cream. Flour must be cooked in the boiling cream to swell its starch and thicken the sauce. Undercooked flour leaves a raw taste and a thin, grainy sauce.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, cream, pepper):
- Celeryfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, cream, pepper. 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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