Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Baked Mackerel
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fish
Thoroughly clean the fish, using a little salt if necessary to remove blood and black skin from the inside.
Split the mackerel open down the front and remove the backbones.
Assemble
Spread half the butter on a baking tin and place one mackerel on the tin, skin side down.
Chop the suet, parsley, and thyme finely, mix with the breadcrumbs, season, and add enough beaten egg to form a stiff mixture.
Spread this mixture thickly over the mackerel on the tin, then place the other mackerel on top.
Brush the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with red breadcrumbs.
Bake and serve
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 15 to 20 minutes and serve with mustard sauce.
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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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + thymetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,758 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mackerel
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking into moist, flaky fish when baked.
- Breadcrumbs
- Bind with the egg and suet to form a stiff stuffing that holds its shape and absorbs juices.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich during baking.
- Beaten egg (in the method)
- Binds the stuffing mixture so it holds together in a stiff layer.
The step that matters
Forming the stiff stuffing. The mixture needs enough beaten egg to bind the breadcrumbs and suet into a stiff layer. If it is too loose, it will run out of the fish and leave the filling dry or uneven.
“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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