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 ↓
Salmon Trout Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Split the salmon trout down the back and flatten them.
Brush the inside with oil or butter.
Dust with pepper, coarse sea salt, and minced parsley.
Broil and serve
Double the trout and broil over a clear fire.
Optionally, wrap in oiled paper.
Cut into fillets and serve.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Salmon + parsleytop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,516 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salmon trout
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked whole after being split and flattened.
- Oil or butter
- Adds moisture and fat to the flesh and helps keep it from drying out under heat.
The step that matters
Double the trout and broil over a clear fire. Fish is lean and dries out quickly under strong direct heat. Keeping the fire clear and watching the flesh closely helps it cook through gently without scorching the surface.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter, pepper):
- Parsleythe original
- Dillfits about as well
- Capersfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, 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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