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Fish Creamed, for Coqttille or Ramekin

Creamed fish served in ramekins or coquilles.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Fish Creamed, for Coqttille or Ramekin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Boil fish in Court Bouillon until cooked.

  2. Cool the fish.

  3. Pick into small pieces, discarding bones and skin.

  4. Cut fish into ½ inch squares for creamed fish.

  5. Mince finely for croquettes, timbales, or soufflés.

Make the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, melt butter.

  2. Sauté onion juice and parsley.

  3. Add flour and cook until bubbling.

  4. Gradually stir in milk or fish stock.

  5. Season with salt, cayenne, and white wine or lemon juice.

  6. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolk with hot cream.

  7. Combine the mixture with the sauce.

  8. Add the fish pieces.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill coquille or ramekin dishes.

  2. Top with browned crumbs.

  3. Serve very hot.

  4. Fill pastries and serve without crumbs.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Fish
Forms the main body of the dish, providing its substance and flaky texture.
Butter
Enriches the sauce with fat and flavour while starting the roux.
Flour
Thickens the milk or stock into a smooth, creamy sauce.
Milk or fish stock
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it body and moisture.
Egg yolk
Enriches and thickens the sauce, adding richness and smoothness.
Hot cream
Adds richness and moisture, softening the sauce's texture.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolk and cream. Egg yolk thickens when heated, but if the sauce is too hot when it is added, the yolk can scramble and turn grainy. Combine it gently with the sauce off the heat or over low heat, stirring constantly.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, parsley, flour, milk, pepper, white wine. 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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