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Baked Fish

A whole fish baked with salt, pepper, onion, tomato, parsley, spices, butter, vinegar, wine, and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Baked Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Place the whole fish in a baking pan and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Add the sliced onion, tomato, chopped parsley, and spices.

Bake

  1. Top with a slice of butter, vinegar, and white wine or water.

  2. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

  3. Bake for 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Whole fish
Provides the main protein that cooks gently in the oven until flaky.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the fish stay moist and carry flavour.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crust on top that helps browning and adds a light texture.
Onion
Adds aroma and savoury sweetness as it softens in the pan juices.
Tomato
Adds moisture and mild acidity to the pan liquid.

The step that matters

Basting occasionally during baking. Spooning pan liquid over the fish keeps the surface moist while the thin flesh cooks through. Opening the oven often lets heat escape and slows cooking, so baste quickly and keep the door closed between checks.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, pepper, onion, parsley, butter, vinegar, white wine):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, pepper, onion, parsley, butter, vinegar, white wine. 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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