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Mackerel, Soused

A pickled mackerel prepared by simmering vinegar, water, spices, and then steeping the fish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mackerel, Soused

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the fish

  1. Boil the mackerel gently without breaking them for 15 minutes.

  2. Remove the bones and split the fish down the back.

Make the pickle

  1. In a saucepan, combine vinegar, water, bay leaf, black peppercorns, allspice, cayenne, and salt.

  2. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes.

  3. Let the mixture cool, then pour it over the fish in a deep dish.

  4. Allow the fish to steep for several hours before serving.

Serve

  1. Garnish with fennel and serve on a flat dish.

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. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + fenneltop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together46 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Pepper + fenneltop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 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

Mackerel
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming firm and flaky when gently poached.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fish in the pickle.

The step that matters

Boil the mackerel gently. Vigorous boiling breaks the delicate fish apart and toughens the flesh. A gentle simmer keeps the pieces whole and moist so they hold their shape in the pickle.

Swap the fennel

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

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Fennelthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, allspice, 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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