Why it works: Lobster and potato work together. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 58 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Boiled Shad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the fish.
Trim the fish.
Score the sides of the fish.
Place the fish on a drainer in a kettle.
Cover the fish with boiling water.
Add salt.
Cook
Simmer until done, about 30 minutes.
Lift the fish and drain.
Serve
Serve with sauce and garnish with potatoes.
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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Lobster + potatotop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together58 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shad
- The main fish; its flesh firms and turns opaque as its proteins set during cooking.
- Caper or lobster sauce
- Adds a rich, tangy flavor that complements the mild flesh of the fish.
The step that matters
Simmering the fish. Water at a hard boil agitates the fish and can break its delicate flesh apart. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly while it stays whole.
“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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