Why it works: Fish and pork work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 668 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Baked Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fish
Clean and rinse the fish, then wipe it dry with a cloth.
Rub the inside of the fish with salt and pepper.
Stuff the fish with your chosen stuffing and secure it with skewers or string.
Dredge the fish with salt, pepper, and flour.
Place the fish on a trivet or a perforated tin sheet in a baking pan.
Use plenty of butter or oil to keep the fish moist and baste frequently while baking.
If desired, score the fish and insert pork strips into the gashes.
Bake and baste
Cover the bottom of the pan with hot water and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for the first hour.
After an hour, increase the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C) and continue baking.
Baste every 15 minutes and dredge with salt, pepper, and flour each time.
Ensure the water in the pan is renewed to keep the bottom just covered.
Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, about 15 minutes per pound.
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 + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through gently in the oven's heat.
- Stuffing
- Fills the cavity, adding moisture and flavour as the fish bakes.
- Flour
- Dredged on the surface, it helps form a light coating that can brown and seal in moisture.
- Butter or olive oil
- Adds fat that keeps the fish moist and helps the surface brown during basting.
- Pork strips
- Inserted into gashes in the fish, adding richness and flavour as they cook.
The step that matters
Basting and keeping the pan water renewed. Fish is lean and dries out quickly in dry heat. Regular basting with fat and keeping hot water under the fish provides moisture, so the flesh stays tender rather than tough and dry.
“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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