Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Baked Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fish
If the fish has scales, scrape and wash it clean.
Rub 1 tablespoon of salt into the fish.
Mix the crushed crackers, parsley, chopped pork, ½ teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon salt with enough cold water to moisten.
Stuff this mixture into the body of the fish and fasten it with a skewer.
Butter a baking pan and place it in a larger baking dish.
Cut gashes across the fish, about ½ inch deep and 2 inches long.
Insert strips of the remaining pork into the gashes.
Dredge the fish with salt, pepper, and flour.
Bake and serve
Cover the bottom of the pan with hot water and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes.
Renew the water in the pan as needed.
Once cooked, carefully lift the fish onto a serving dish and pour Hollandaise sauce, tomato sauce, or your choice of sauce around it.
Garnish with parsley.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Fish + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 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
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking up moist and flaky in the oven.
- Salt pork
- Melts as it bakes, adding fat and savory flavour to the fish and stuffing.
- Crackers
- Crushed into the stuffing, they absorb moisture and help bind the filling together.
- Flour
- Dredged over the fish, it helps form a light crust that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Basting and renewing the water. Hot water in the pan and regular basting keep the fish from drying out during the hour-long bake. Letting the pan run dry can scorch the bottom and toughen the flesh.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pork, pepper, flour):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pork, pepper, flour. 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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