Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Baked Halibut
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fish
Soak the halibut in a mixture of salt and water for 2 hours.
Wipe the fish dry.
Score the outer skin of the fish.
Place the halibut in a baking pan.
Bake
Pour 1 cup of boiling water mixed with 1 tablespoon of butter over the halibut.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour, basting often with the butter and water.
Check for doneness by inserting a fork; it should penetrate easily.
Transfer the fish to a hot dish.
Make the sauce and serve
Add a little boiling water to the gravy.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of anchovy sauce.
Add the juice of ½ lemon.
Add enough browned flour mixed with cold water to thicken.
Boil the sauce for 1 minute.
Serve in a boat.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Anchovy + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,080 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Halibut
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking to flaky tenderness in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture when basted over the fish and into the gravy.
- Anchovy sauce
- Adds savory depth to the gravy through its salty, umami flavour.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the gravy and balances its richness.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the gravy and adds a toasted, nutty flavour.
The step that matters
Checking doneness with a fork. Halibut dries out quickly past doneness. It is ready when a fork slides in easily and the flesh flakes, so check before the full hour is up if needed.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, anchovy, sauce, flour):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Avocadofits about as well
- Plumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, anchovy, sauce, flour. 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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