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Fish Eelish

A baked casserole of fish, eggs, mashed potatoes, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓

Fish Eelish

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

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

  2. In a bowl, mix the drawn butter with the beaten egg.

  3. Dry the boiled roe.

  4. Mince the fish and season with salt and pepper.

  5. Combine the minced fish with the butter and the yolks of the hard boiled eggs.

  6. Cut the whites of the boiled eggs into thin rings.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter a deep dish.

  2. Layer mashed potatoes in the dish.

  3. Alternate layers of fish, drawn butter, and egg whites with roe.

  4. Top with more mashed potatoes.

  5. Cover the dish.

  6. Bake until it smokes and bubbles.

  7. Remove the cover for a few minutes to brown the top.

  8. Serve directly from the baking dish with pickles.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Drawn butter
Adds richness and moisture, carrying flavor through the layers.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving the dish structure.
Mashed potato
Forms the soft base and top layers, adding body and moisture.
Cold fish
Main filling, providing the savory flavor of the dish.
Roe
Adds a rich, briny flavor and a distinct texture to the layers.

The step that matters

Remove the cover to brown the top. Baking covered traps steam and keeps the top pale; uncovering for a few minutes lets surface moisture evaporate so the proteins and sugars brown.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper. 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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