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Broiled White-fish-fresh

Broiled white fish fresh, seasoned with pepper and butter, optionally smoked with corn cobs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Broiled White-fish-fresh

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Wash and drain the fish.

  2. Sprinkle the fish with pepper.

Broil and finish

  1. Place the fish on the grill over fresh coals.

  2. Broil until the fish is nicely browned.

  3. Turn the fish for a moment on the other side.

  4. Remove the fish and spread with butter.

  5. For added flavor, place 2-3 corn cobs under the grill to create smoke.

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. Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + corntop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Fish + corntop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together70 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

White fish
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking to a flaky, tender texture under heat.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth finish when spread over the hot fish.
Corn cobs
Optional; smoldering cobs under the grill add a smoky aroma to the fish.

The step that matters

Broil until the fish is nicely browned. Fish is delicate and cooks quickly, so over-broiling dries the flesh and makes it tough. Watching for light browning while the inside stays moist keeps it tender and flaky.

“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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