Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
To Broil Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Grease the gridiron thoroughly.
Lay the fish on the gridiron.
Broil
For small fish, broil over a hot fire; for large fish, use a moderate fire.
Turn the fish constantly, keeping the skin side against the fire longer.
When the flesh easily parts from the bone, loosen the fish with a knife.
Invert a hot dish over the fish and quickly turn both back again.
Finish
Butter the fish generously, then add salt, pepper, parsley, and lemon juice.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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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 + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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; its flesh cooks and firms under direct heat.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the surface moist and helping it brown.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the rich fish and butter.
The step that matters
Turning the fish with the skin side toward the fire. Turning constantly and leaving the skin side against the heat longer protects the delicate flesh from overcooking and sticking, while the skin crisps. Loosening only when the flesh easily parts from the bone helps keep the fish intact.
“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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