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Cream of Fish

A chilled fish aspic made with fish, aspic jelly, cream, gelatin, mayonnaise, and lettuce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and lettuce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cream of Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Set the mold

  1. Set a little tomato aspic in a border mold.

Make the fish mixture

  1. Pound the fish and mix it with seasoning, whipped cream, whipped aspic, and melted gelatin.

  2. Pour the mixture into the mold and turn it out when set.

Serve

  1. Place lettuce in the center and top with mayonnaise.

  2. Chop the remaining tomato aspic and arrange it around the dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Tomato + lettucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Lettuce + lemontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,559 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Tomato + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Fish + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,889 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Fish + tomatotop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together213 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hepten-3-one (metal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the main body of the mold and gives the savory flavor.
Gelatine
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when turned out of the mold.
Cream
Adds richness and a soft, airy texture when whipped into the mixture.
Tomato aspic
Provides moisture, a jelly-like set, and a tangy flavor for the border and garnish.

The step that matters

Pouring the mixture into the mold and turning it out when set. The gelatine must be fully set before unmolding, or the fish mixture will slump and lose its shape. Turning out too early can tear the aspic border.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, cream, tomato, lettuce):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Coconutfits about as well
  3. Limefits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, cream, tomato, lettuce. 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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