Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Salt Mackerel with Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Soak the mackerel overnight in lukewarm water, changing it in the morning for ice-cold water.
Remove all the salt from the fish.
Wipe the fish dry.
Grease a grill with butter.
Rub the fish on both sides with melted butter.
Broil the fish quickly over a clear fire, turning gently to avoid breaking it.
Place the fish on a hot-water dish.
Cover the fish while preparing the sauce.
Make the cream sauce
Heat the milk until scalding.
Stir in the corn starch mixed with a little water until thickened.
Add the butter, pepper, salt, and chopped parsley to the thickened milk.
Beat the egg lightly.
Gradually pour the sauce over the egg, stirring continuously.
Return the mixture to the heat. Stir for one minute.
Serve
Pour the sauce over the fish.
Let the fish stand covered over hot water before serving.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 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
- Mackerel
- Salted fish that is soaked to remove salt, then broiled as the main protein.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, carrying the starch and enriching its flavor.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the hot milk into a smooth sauce as its granules swell with heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps prevent the fish from sticking and drying on the grill.
- Egg
- Enriches and thickens the sauce slightly when gently heated with it.
The step that matters
Gradually pour the sauce over the egg, stirring continuously. Adding hot sauce to the egg slowly while stirring tempers the egg so it warms without scrambling. Dumping it in at once can cook the egg into lumps, leaving the sauce grainy.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, butter, pepper, egg):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, butter, pepper, egg. 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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