Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Salt Mackerel Cooked in Milk
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
Select a salt mackerel that is not too fat with thick flesh.
Soak the mackerel, skin side up, in cold water to cover overnight.
In the morning, drain the mackerel and place it in a granite dripping pan, laying it flat.
Cook in milk
Cover the mackerel with fresh sweet milk.
Simmer very slowly on the back of the range or in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve
Drain the mackerel from the milk and place it on a hot serving platter.
Spread the mackerel with soft butter and strain a small quantity of the milk over the fish if desired.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 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 mackerel
- Provides the main flesh, and soaking it overnight draws out excess salt.
- Fresh sweet milk
- Gently poaches the fish and mellows its saltiness as it simmers.
- Soft butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, moist finish when spread over the hot fish.
The step that matters
Simmer very slowly. Gentle heat poaches the fish without toughening its proteins or boiling the milk over. Vigorous boiling would make the flesh dry and the milk likely to curdle and scorch.
“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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