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Baked Bluefish

Baked Bluefish is a fish stuffed with forcemeat or bread forcemeat and capers, baked with butter and salt pork.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,930 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Baked Bluefish

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean and prepare the bluefish for baking.

  2. Wash it in salted water and dry it thoroughly.

  3. Stuff the fish with veal forcemeat or bread forcemeat mixed with capers.

  4. Sew up the opening and rub the fish all over with salt.

  5. Place small pieces of butter on top or slash the fish and insert pieces of salt pork.

  6. Put the fish in a large pan with enough water to cover the bottom.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 45 to 50 minutes.

  2. After it begins to bake, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  3. Baste often with the liquid in the pan and a little melted butter.

  4. When cooked and nicely colored, carefully remove to a hot plate.

  5. Serve with a brown sauce or any desired sauce around the fish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Butter + porktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,933 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bluefish
Forms the main body of the dish, cooked whole and kept moist by the pan liquid.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the surface brown during baking.
Salt pork
Renders fat into the fish as it cooks, adding moisture and savory flavor.
Veal forcemeat or bread forcemeat
Fills the cavity, adding moisture and a tender, binding texture to the fish.

The step that matters

Baste often and watch the colour. Basting with pan liquid and melted butter keeps the fish moist while it bakes, and the surface should be removed once it is cooked and nicely coloured rather than left to dry out.

“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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