Why it works: Wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,493 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Fish Jellied
Ingredients
Directions
Cook and reduce
Boil the fish in wine, water, vinegar, and seasonings.
Once cooked, remove the fish and return the head to the pot.
Let the liquid boil down to ½ pint.
Set and serve
Place the fish in a deep platter and pour the reduced liquid over it.
Refrigerate overnight to allow it to set into a jelly.
Serve with mayonnaise.
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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Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,493 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + winetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,066 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,948 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Fish + vinegartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,036 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the flesh that is cooked and served within the jelly.
- Wine
- Adds flavour and acidity to the cooking liquid that becomes the jelly.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness and acidity, balancing the richness of the fish.
- Bay leaves
- Add a subtle aromatic herbal flavour to the cooking liquid.
The step that matters
Boil the liquid down to ½ pint. Reducing the liquid concentrates its flavour and the gelatin released from the fish head and bones. Too much liquid left behind may fail to set, while over-reducing makes the jelly overly strong and salty.
“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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