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Fish Pie

A baked dish of cooked fish mixed with a thick sauce and layered with mashed potatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Fish Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the sauce

  1. Carefully pick the fish from the bones.

  2. Broil the bones in a small quantity of water.

  3. When cold, mix ½ cup of the liquid with the flour.

  4. Stir over heat until it thickens.

  5. Add the butter and keep stirring until well mixed.

  6. Remove from heat.

  7. Mix in the beaten egg, anchovy sauce, lemon juice, salt, and paprika.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter the baking dish.

  2. Layer well-seasoned mashed potatoes.

  3. Layer all of the fish.

  4. Layer another layer of mashed potatoes.

  5. Smooth the top.

  6. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.

  7. Serve hot in the baking dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together637 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and butter 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

Flour
Thickens the stock and butter into a smooth, binding sauce.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the sauce feel smooth and flavorful.
Egg
Enriches the sauce and helps bind it with the fish.
Fish stock
Provides the liquid base and savory flavor for the sauce.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich sauce and fish.

The step that matters

Thickening the flour and stock. Flour must be stirred continuously over heat so starch granules swell evenly and the sauce thickens without lumps or a raw flour taste.

“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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