Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Scalloped Fish
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
Remove bones and skin from the fish, and break it into pieces about 1 inch long and half the thickness of a little finger.
Make the dressing
Scald 1 pint of milk over boiling water, then mix in the flour with the remaining milk until smooth.
Cook the mixture until it thickens more than boiled custard, then remove from heat.
Whip in the beaten egg yolks, butter, cayenne, salt, and half of the grated nutmeg.
Assemble and bake
Butter a baking dish and layer the dressing, then the fish, repeating until the dish is full, finishing with dressing on top.
Cover with grated bread and sprinkle the remaining nutmeg on top.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350°F (175°C); avoid too much heat to prevent drying out the fish.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Fish
- Forms the body of the dish and, when kept from overheating, stays moist and tender.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour and keeps the dressing smooth.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a stable, custard-like dressing that holds the layers together.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the dressing, which thickens and sets as it cooks.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the dressing, helping it set and giving it a smooth texture.
The step that matters
Cook the dressing until it thickens, then bake gently. Flour thickens the milk only when it is cooked enough to swell its starch, and the egg yolks must not be overheated or they can scramble. Too much oven heat dries the fish, so a moderate bake keeps it moist.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, flour, milk, pepper, egg):
- Nutmegthe original
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, flour, milk, pepper, egg. 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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