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Sole, Baked

A simple baked sole fillet seasoned with salt and pepper, optionally coated in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs, served with anchovy‑flavored butter or a lemon‑anchovy sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Sole, Baked

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 the fish

  1. Scale, skin, and trim the sole.

  2. Wipe it dry with a soft cloth and let it rest in a cool place for at least 1 hour.

  3. Season the sole lightly with salt and pepper.

  4. Dust it with flour.

  5. If desired, dip it in beaten eggs.

  6. Coat with bread crumbs.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the sole in a buttered baking dish.

  2. Dot with small pieces of butter.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven, shaking the dish occasionally to prevent sticking, for 10 to 15 minutes until done.

  4. Once cooked, place the sole on a reversed sieve to drain excess fat for a few minutes.

  5. Transfer to a hot dish, cover with a napkin, and garnish with parsley and lemon.

  6. Serve with melted butter flavored with anchovy sauce and chili vinegar, or make a sauce by mixing the fish's gravy with lemon juice, essence of anchovies, and stock. Optionally add wine.

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 + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,260 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Sole
Its firm, fresh flesh is the main element that cooks through and turns flaky.
Eggs
Beaten eggs bind the flour and bread crumb coating so it adheres to the fish.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that browns in the oven and protects the delicate fish.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the fish stay tender while it bakes.
Lemon juice
Adds brightness and acidity that balances the richness of the fish and butter sauce.

The step that matters

Shaking the dish during baking. Shaking the dish occasionally keeps the coated fish from sticking to the buttered dish and tearing as it cooks through.

“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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