Name: Planked Shad, or Lake White Fish
Ingredients: 1 whole shad or lake white fish, cleaned and split down the back; 2 tablespoons oil or melted butter; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste; Duchess potatoes (for filling); 1 egg yolk, beaten; 1 tablespoon milk; Parsley and radishes, for garnish; Maitre d'hotel butter, for serving

Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓

Planked Shad, or Lake White Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

1 whole shad or lake white fish, cleaned and split down the back
2 tablespoons oil or melted butter
Coarse sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Duchess potatoes (for filling)
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Parsley and radishes, for garnish
Maitre d'hotel butter, for serving

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the fish

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Fasten the cleaned fish onto a heated hardwood plank.
Brush the fish with oil or melted butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake and serve

Bake for about 25 minutes, basting frequently with melted butter.
If cooking over an open fire, secure the fish with tacks and place it in a dripping pan.
Prepare duchess potatoes using a piping bag and star tip to fill the space around the fish.
Brush the duchess potatoes with the beaten egg yolk mixed with milk, then let them brown in the oven.
Serve the plank on a dish, hiding the edges with parsley and radishes.
Spread maitre d'hotel butter over the fish or serve it melted in a separate dish.

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.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parsley + radishtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together120 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Shad or lake white fish: Provides the main flesh, which cooks gently and stays moist on the hot wood.
Oil or melted butter: Adds fat that carries heat over the surface and helps the fish brown and stay moist.
Duchess potatoes: Fill the space around the fish with a soft, rich starch that is then browned for colour.
Egg yolk: Brushed on the potatoes, it sets and browns them to a glossy golden finish.
Milk: Thins the egg yolk wash so it spreads evenly and browns without clumping.

The step that matters

Brush the duchess potatoes with egg wash and brown them in the oven. The egg yolk and milk wash browns through Maillard browning and proteins setting on the surface. Too little heat or too long a wait leaves them pale or dry, while uneven brushing gives patchy colour.

Swap the radish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, pepper, potato, egg, milk, parsley):

Capsicumfits better
Chivefits better
Asparagusfits better
Radishthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, pepper, potato, egg, milk, parsley. 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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Planked Shad, or Lake White Fish