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 ↓
Red Mullets
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a warm oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the red mullets on a sturdy dish and sprinkle with chopped onions, parsley, pepper, salt, and salad oil.
Bake and make the sauce
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
In a stewpan, heat chopped onions and salad oil over moderate heat until yellowish.
Add sherry and white sauce or melted butter, stirring until thickened.
Once the mullets are done, pour the sauce over them and serve.
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).
-
Onion + parsleytop 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).
-
Pepper + sherrytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
-
Parsley + sherrytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,310 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red mullets
- Form the main body of the dish and carry the flavour of the sauce.
- White sauce or melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and thickens with stirring to coat the fish.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma to the sauce, balancing its richness.
- Salad oil
- Carries heat and flavour from the onions and helps keep the fish moist while baking.
The step that matters
Heating the onions in oil until yellowish. Cooking the onions gently until just yellow softens their sharpness and builds sweetness. Browning them too fast can make them bitter and scorch the oil, so keep the heat moderate and watch the colour.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, pepper, sherry, sauce):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, pepper, sherry, sauce. 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.
More red mullet recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 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.