Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Baked Haddock
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Clean the haddock and place it in a baking dish.
Season with salt and pepper.
Dot with butter and drizzle with lemon juice.
Bake
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Haddock + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together764 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Haddock + lemontop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together299 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Haddock
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming flaky and tender as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, helping the fish stay juicy in the oven.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the mild flavour of the fish.
The step that matters
Bake until the fish flakes easily. Fish cooks quickly and turns dry and rubbery if overbaked. Checking that it flakes easily with a fork shows it is cooked through while still moist.
“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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