Name: A Simple Timbale of Halibut
Ingredients: half pound of uncooked halibut; half cupful of milk; half teaspoonful of salt; a cupful of white bread-crumbs; a dash of paprica; five eggs; eight individual molds; salt

Why it works: Milk and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

A Simple Timbale of Halibut

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

Cut the uncooked halibut into fine pieces, pound it in a mortar, and pass it through a sieve.

Make the mixture

Mix a cupful of white bread-crumbs with a half cupful of milk, and stir until it makes a smooth paste.
Remove the paste from the fire.
Add the fish pulp, a half teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of paprika.
Beat in lightly, a little at a time, the whipped whites of five eggs.

Bake and serve

Fill buttered timbale molds with the mixture.
Place the molds in a pan of hot water in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.
Serve with a white or with a tomato sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

367Calories

41 gProtein

16 gFat

13 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Halibut	100g cooked	140
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
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.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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 timbale once pounded and sieved into a smooth pulp.
Eggs: Whipped whites lighten the mixture and set with gentle heat to give the timbale its structure.
White bread-crumbs: Mixed with milk into a paste that adds body and helps bind the fish.
Milk: Moistens the bread-crumbs into a smooth paste, keeping the timbale tender.

The step that matters

Beat in the egg whites lightly. Whipped whites hold air that makes the timbale light. Overbeating or stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense, heavy result after baking.

“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.

Brown Bread461 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

Bread Omelette60 recipes

Oatmeal Bread51 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

A Simple Timbale of Halibut