Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Broiled Salt Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the salt fish until tender.
Broil the fish for about 5 minutes until it is nicely browned.
Spread a little butter on top 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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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt fish
- Provides the main savory flavor and firm, flaky texture of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth coating that helps the top brown and finish the fish.
The step that matters
Broil the fish until nicely browned. Broiling gives high direct heat that browns the surface quickly. Watch it closely, since the top can scorch before the fish is heated through.
“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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