Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Planked Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Oil a seasoned oak plank or other hard wood board.
Place the fish skin side down on the board and brush with oil or melted butter.
Season the fish with coarse sea salt.
Bake and garnish
Bake for about 25 minutes, basting frequently with melted butter.
Fill the spaces between the fish and the edge of the board with parsley or mashed potatoes.
Use a pastry bag to pipe the mashed potatoes and brush with beaten egg yolk diluted with milk.
Return to the oven to brown the potatoes.
Serve the fish on the plank on a serving dish.
Garnish with Saratoga potatoes, radishes, and lemon slices before serving.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + radishtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together120 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Radish + lemontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together174 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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 dish; its moist flesh cooks gently on the plank with basting.
- Oil or melted butter
- Adds moisture and fat, helping the fish stay juicy and brown lightly as it bakes.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed over the piped potatoes to give them a golden, browned finish.
- Mashed potatoes
- Fill the gaps around the fish and, once browned, give a soft, golden edge.
The step that matters
Return to the oven to brown the potatoes. Mashed potatoes are already cooked, so they only need enough heat to brown the egg-yolk glaze. Watch closely, because the glaze can darken quickly and scorch before the potatoes are heated through.
Swap the radish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, parsley, potato, egg, milk, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits better
- Radishthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, parsley, potato, egg, milk, lemon. 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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