Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fish a LA Creme
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Boil the fish and spread it on a platter.
Make the cream sauce
In a pan, melt the butter with salt and pepper over medium heat.
Once it boils, add the flour and slowly stir in the hot milk.
Pour the mixture over the boiled fish.
Top and bake
Moisten the crushed crackers in butter and sprinkle them on top.
Place the dish in the oven over a tin of water and brown it.
Serve with hot mashed potatoes piped around the edge.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Salmon + buttertop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Salmon + milktop 16% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,577 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Salmon, cod, or haddock
- Provides the main body of the dish, flaking into the sauce as it bakes.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the white sauce that coats the fish.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness to the sauce and helps the crackers brown.
- Crushed crackers
- Form a crisp, golden crust on top when baked.
The step that matters
Adding the hot milk to the flour and butter. Stirring hot milk in slowly keeps the flour dispersed, so the sauce thickens smooth instead of forming lumps.
“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.
You might also like
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Salmon Croquettes129 recipes
Canned Salmon14 recipes
Smoked Salmon14 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.