Why it works: Fish and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,668 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Fish Sandwiches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Chop the fish finely.
In a bowl, beat the eggs well.
Add the oil to the eggs until they begin to thicken.
Stir in the chopped fish.
Add vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste.
Assemble and serve
Spread the mixture on thin slices of bread.
Cut the sandwiches into squares 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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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Eggs
- Bind the fish and oil into a thick, spreadable mixture.
- Oil
- Adds richness and fat, and thickens the beaten eggs as it is added.
- White fish
- Provides the main filling and flavour, held together by the egg mixture.
The step that matters
Adding the oil to the eggs. Oil must be added slowly while the eggs are beaten. Dribbling it in too fast can keep the mixture from thickening properly, leaving a loose filling that will not hold together on the bread.
“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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