Name: Fish, Grilled
Ingredients: small thin fish or large fish divided into slices or fillets; oil; coarse sea salt; pepper; chopped parsley (optional); mutton fat (for greasing the grill)

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 ↓

Fish, Grilled

Ingredients

Directions

Thoroughly dry the fish.
Rub the fish all over with oil and season with coarse sea salt, pepper, and chopped parsley if desired.
Prepare a clear, bright fire for grilling.
Heat the gridiron on both sides and rub it with mutton fat to prevent sticking.
Place the fish on the grill, moving it around and turning it occasionally for even cooking.
Grill until the fish is cooked through and lightly browned.
Optionally, flour the fish after oiling for better color.
For a delicate preparation, wrap the fish in well-oiled paper, taking care to avoid burning.

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.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Fish + muttontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together121 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper + muttontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,442 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,341 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,948 recipes

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