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Stuffed Haddock

A haddock fillet filled with suet, breadcrumbs, herbs, and parsley, baked in paper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stuffed Haddock

Oven, in the book's wordsA fairly hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Wash, scale, and wipe the haddock; remove the eyes.

  2. In a bowl, mix the suet, bread crumbs, herbs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

  3. Moisten the stuffing with the beaten egg.

Stuff and wrap

  1. Stuff the fish and sew up the opening or fold in the ends.

  2. Brush the fish with beaten egg and sprinkle with browned bread crumbs.

  3. Place small pieces of dripping on top, wrap in greased paper, and secure with wire clips.

Bake and serve

  1. Place on a wire rack in the oven and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.

  2. Remove the string and serve.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

  5. Parsley + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Haddock
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently to flaky, moist flesh inside the stuffing.
Suet
Adds fat that melts during baking, keeping the stuffing moist and rich.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the stuffing body, while the browned topping adds crisp colour.
Beaten egg
Binds the stuffing together and helps the topping brown and set.
Dripping
Adds fat that bastes the fish and encourages browning on top.

The step that matters

Stuff and wrap the fish securely. If the opening is not sewn or sealed well, the stuffing can loosen and escape during baking, and the fish may cook unevenly. Wrapping in greased paper holds in moisture so the flesh steams gently while the top browns.

“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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