Why it works: Butter and mushroom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 12,516 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Clean the cod and cut it into slices.
Cook
In a stewpan, combine the cod, butter, herbs, mushrooms, and Marsala wine.
Simmer until the mixture is reduced.
Pour in the Neapolitan sauce and cook until the cod is done.
Serve
Remove the cod and arrange it on a dish with a border of macaroni stewed in stock.
Stir the cream with the reduced stock until smooth, then pour over the fish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + mushroomtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together12,516 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + winetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,509 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).
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Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + winetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,517 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Sauce + creamtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,786 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps carry flavour through the simmering liquid.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the finished sauce.
- Marsala wine
- Adds acidity and a deep, aromatic sweetness to the reduced liquid.
- Mushrooms
- Add savoury, earthy flavour and a little moisture to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stir the cream into the reduced stock until smooth. Cream added to a very hot, boiling liquid can split and turn grainy. Stirring it in until smooth, with the stock at a gentle heat, helps keep the sauce silky.
“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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