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Broiled Fish

A fish fillet seasoned with salt and pepper, broiled and finished with butter, garnished with parsley or water-cress.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Broiled Fish

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Broiled Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split the fish through the back and remove the head and tail if necessary.

  2. Grease a double wire broiler well before placing the fish inside.

  3. Dust the fish with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

Broil

  1. Broil the flesh side first until almost done, then cook the skin side until browned.

  2. Small fish require 5 to 10 minutes; thick fish require 15 to 20 minutes.

  3. Cover the broiler with an old dripping pan for even cooking.

  4. Sprinkle a few ashes over the fire to prevent scorching.

Finish and serve

  1. Spread the fish generously with butter and place in a warming oven for 1 minute.

  2. Garnish with parsley or water-cress before serving.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 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

Fish
Its protein sets and flakes as heat cooks it, forming the main body of the dish.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the cooked fish, as a fat that carries flavour.

The step that matters

Broil the flesh side until almost done before turning. Fish cooks quickly and its thickness sets the time, so overcooking dries the flesh. Cooking the flesh side first gently sets it before the skin side is browned.

“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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