Why it works: Vinegar and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Baked Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Season the fish with salt and pepper.
Place the fish in a deep baking dish.
Bake and serve
Pour cream, oil, or white wine over the fish.
If serving cold, mix vinegar and water, and pour over the fish.
Baste the fish with olive oil, white wine, or lemon juice.
Bake until cooked through, then serve with the cooking liquid and a cold sauce on the side.
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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Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Fish + olivetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together279 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Whole fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking into flaky, moist flesh.
- Cream, oil, or white wine
- Surrounds the fish during baking, adding moisture and richness so it does not dry out.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity for a sharp flavour in the cold sauce or poaching liquid.
- Olive oil, white wine, or lemon juice
- Basting adds surface moisture and flavour as the fish cooks.
The step that matters
Bake until cooked through. Fish cooks quickly and turns dry once overcooked, so check that the thickest part flakes easily and is opaque before removing it from the oven.
“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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