Why it works: Pork and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,933 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Salt Mackerel, Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and soak the mackerel for the same length of time as in the previous recipe.
Remove it from the water and dry it with a linen cloth.
Split the mackerel down the back and cut it into pieces three inches long.
Broil and serve
Grease a grill with fat pork or lard on a cloth.
Place the mackerel on the grill, skin side down, and broil for 30 minutes.
Turn the mackerel after 15 minutes.
Serve with drawn butter.
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.
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Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mackerel
- Is the main protein; its oily flesh stays moist and rich under the grill.
- Drawn butter
- Adds richness and fat to the cooked fish at serving.
The step that matters
Turning the mackerel after 15 minutes. Turning the fish partway through lets both sides cook through and brown evenly, so the flesh does not dry out or scorch on one side under the direct heat.
“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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