Why it works: Onion and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
To Make a Curry of Catfish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Take the white channel catfish, cut off their heads, skin and clean them, cut them in pieces four inches long.
Put as many as will be sufficient for a dish into a stew pan with a quart of water, two onions, and chopped parsley.
Make the gravy
Let them stew gently until the water is reduced to half a pint.
Take the fish out and lay them on a dish, cover them to keep them hot.
Rub a spoonful of butter into one of flour.
Add a large teaspoonful of curry powder, thicken the gravy with it.
Shake it over the fire a few minutes.
Serve
Pour it over the fish; be careful to have the gravy smooth.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Water | 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.
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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
- Catfish (in the method)
- Forms the main body of the dish as the cooked protein.
- Butter and flour
- Rubbed together to form a roux that thickens the gravy.
- Onions
- Add savory flavor and sweetness to the stewing liquid.
The step that matters
Shaking the flour and butter into the gravy. Flour added to hot liquid can clump, leaving lumps. Blending the butter and flour first and shaking the mixture over the fire keeps the gravy smooth as it thickens.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, 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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