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Pickled or Soused Shad

A shad fish pickled in a spiced vinegar solution.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickled or Soused Shad

Ingredients

Directions

Poach the fish

  1. Fill a fish kettle with water to cover the fish and bring it to a boil.

  2. Add 1 cup of coarse sea salt to the boiling water.

  3. Place the fish on a drainer in the kettle and boil for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.

  4. Remove the fish, drain it thoroughly, and let it cool.

Spice the liquid

  1. In the same water used for boiling, add whole cloves, allspice, mace, and the red pepper pod.

  2. Boil the mixture until the water is strongly flavored with the spices.

Pickle and store

  1. Cut the fish into large pieces and place them in a stone crock.

  2. Mix 1 to 1½ cups of strong vinegar with the spiced liquid and pour it over the fish until fully covered.

  3. Cover the crock with a cloth and place the lid on it.

  4. Store in a cool place for 1 to 2 days before using; it will keep for a fortnight if the fish remains covered by the liquid.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Shad (in the method)
The main fish, which is firmed by poaching and then pickled in the spiced vinegar liquid.
Strong vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves and sharpens the flavor of the pickled fish.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the poaching water and helps firm the fish's texture.
Whole cloves
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Keep the fish fully covered by the liquid. Fish exposed to air can spoil and grow microbes, so the vinegar liquid must cover every piece to preserve it safely over the storage period.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, allspice, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, allspice, pepper, vinegar. 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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