Why it works: Tomato and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,719 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Baked Pish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Rub the fish inside and out with coarse sea salt and cayenne pepper.
Prepare the dressing by mixing the tomatoes, shrimp, mushrooms, oysters, and chopped onion.
Stuff and bake
Stuff the fish with the dressing and place any remaining dressing on top.
Bake the fish in the oven until cooked through, then serve in the baking dish.
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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Tomato + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,719 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Fish + oystertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together496 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,626 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White fish
- Forms the main body of the dish and cooks through in the oven.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic sweetness and savoury flavour to the dressing as it softens.
- Oysters
- Contribute a briny, savoury flavour to the stuffing.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and acidity that keep the stuffing and fish from drying out.
The step that matters
Bake the fish until cooked through. Fish cooks quickly and turns dry and firm if overbaked, so check that it flakes easily at the thickest point. The dressing inside also needs to reach a safe, hot temperature while the fish stays moist.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pepper, tomato, shrimp, mushroom, oyster):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pepper, tomato, shrimp, mushroom, oyster. 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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