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Soles Aux Fines Herbes

A sole fillet cooked with shallots, sherry, butter, herbs, and a sauce of brown gravy, Harvey sauce, and anchovy essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Soles Aux Fines Herbes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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

  1. In a sauté pan, combine chopped shallots, sherry, and butter.

  2. Place the sole in the pan and pour melted butter over it.

  3. Add brown gravy or water and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  2. Remove the sole from the pan and place it on a serving dish.

  3. Reduce the sauce in the pan over high heat, then add Harvey sauce and essence of anchovy.

  4. Pour the sauce over the sole 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. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  2. Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Parsley + anchovytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,702 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Sherry + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 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

Sole (in the method)
Is the main protein, cooked gently in butter and sauce until flaky.
Shallots
Add a mild, sweet onion aroma to the sauce base.
Sherry
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the pan sauce as it reduces.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and helping the sole brown slightly.
Brown gravy or water
Supplies liquid and body so the sauce stays moist during baking.
Parsley
Contributes fresh, green aroma and a bright finishing note.

The step that matters

Reduce the sauce over high heat. Reducing concentrates the liquid and evaporates excess water, so the sauce thickens and tastes richer. If it is under-reduced, the sauce stays thin and watery, and if over-reduced it can turn salty or sticky once the Harvey sauce and anchovy are added.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, sherry, butter, sauce, anchovy):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Thymefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, sherry, butter, sauce, anchovy. 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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