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 ↓
Hake, Baked
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut the hake into slices more than ½ inch thick and dry them well.
Rub the slices with flour.
Mix the bread crumbs, parsley, onions, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Assemble
Place 1 ounce of butter or dripping in a pie dish and sprinkle with chopped parsley and onion.
Layer the hake slices in the dish and cover them thickly with the seasoned crumbs.
Dot the remaining 2 ounces of butter or dripping over the top.
Pour the gravy or water underneath the fish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 30 minutes.
Serve the fish with the cooked gravy.
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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hake
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through in the oven while staying moist under the crumbs.
- Flour
- Dry coating on the fish slices that helps the surface hold moisture and begin to brown.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden crust over the fish during baking.
- Butter or dripping
- Adds fat that carries flavour, encourages browning, and keeps the topping rich and moist.
- Gravy or water
- Provides liquid in the dish that keeps the fish moist and creates a sauce for serving.
The step that matters
Dry the hake slices well. Surface moisture on the fish dilutes the flour coating and steams the slices instead of letting the crumb crust brown. Patting them dry lets the coating adhere and the topping crisp in the oven.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, bread, parsley, pepper, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, bread, parsley, pepper, 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.
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.