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Turbot

A boiled turbot served with a sauce of anchovies, capers, herbs, and white wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Turbot

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Thoroughly wash and cleanse the turbot.

  2. Rub allegar over the fish to enhance firmness.

  3. Place the fish belly up in a fish plate and cover tightly with a cloth.

  4. Boil in hard water with plenty of salt and vinegar, skimming to prevent discoloration.

  5. Add the fish only when the water is boiling, then drain it when cooked.

  6. Carefully remove the cloth and transfer the fish to a serving dish.

Make the sauce and finish

  1. For the sauce, combine thyme, parsley, sweet herbs, and sliced onion in a stew-pan.

  2. Lay the fish on top and sprinkle with herbs, chives, and sweet basil.

  3. Cover with white wine and vinegar, adding bay salt and whole pepper.

  4. Gradually increase the heat and cook until done, then remove from heat and let the fish sit in the liquid.

  5. In a separate saucepan, melt butter and add anchovies, capers, chives, pepper, salt, nutmeg, flour, vinegar, and water.

  6. Shake the mixture over heat until combined, then pour over the fish to heat through.

  7. Serve the turbot with sauce poured over it and extra sauce in a boat, garnished with horseradish.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  3. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. White wine + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Turbot
Forms the firm, flaky main body of the dish that holds its shape during poaching.
Butter
Melts into the sauce to add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Anchovies
Add a salty, savoury depth to the sauce that rounds out the butter.
Capers
Add a sharp, briny acidity that cuts through the richness of the butter.
Flour
Thickens the butter and liquid into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the cooking liquid, flavouring the fish as it cooks.

The step that matters

Boil in hard water with plenty of salt and vinegar, skimming to prevent discoloration.. Fish added to boiling water firms quickly and keeps its shape, while skimming removes foam and impurities that would otherwise cloud the surface and discolour the flesh.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turbot, vinegar, thyme, parsley, white wine, pepper, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turbot, vinegar, thyme, parsley, white wine, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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