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Haddock, Pickled

Pickled haddock is a preserved fish dish made by baking haddock slices with vinegar, water, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 ↓

Haddock, Pickled

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Mix the salt, pepper, and parsley in a bowl.

  2. Wash and scale the haddocks, then cut them into 1-inch thick slices.

Bake

  1. Layer the haddock slices in a deep baking dish, sprinkling the seasoning and minced onions over each layer.

  2. Pour the vinegar and water over the layered haddock.

  3. Place the bay leaves on top.

  4. Cover the dish loosely.

  5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.

Finish and store

  1. Let the haddock cool.

  2. Pour melted lard or clarified butter over them.

  3. Store in an airtight container to keep them fresh.

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. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  4. Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

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 firm and flaky as it bakes in the acidic liquid.
Vinegar
Acidity that sharpens the flavour and firms the fish's proteins as it cooks and pickles.
Onions
Add sharp, aromatic flavour that mellows and sweetens slowly during baking.
Lard or clarified butter
Fat that seals the surface, adding richness and helping preserve the fish.

The step that matters

Baking at 350°F for 2 hours. The fish must be cooked through and kept covered loosely so it stays moist while the vinegar penetrates. Too little time leaves it underdone, and too high heat can dry or toughen the flesh.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, parsley, haddock, vinegar, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, parsley, haddock, vinegar, butter. 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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