Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Baked Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Clean the fish and make gashes on each side.
Stuff and baste
In a bowl, mix bread crumbs, melted butter, onion, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Stuff the mixture into the fish.
Insert strips of salt pork into the gashes to baste the fish.
Bake
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on thickness.
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.
-
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 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
- Firm-fleshed fish
- Forms the main body of the dish and holds its shape during baking.
- Bread crumbs or crushed crackers
- Absorbs the buttery juices and lightly fills the cavity, adding body to the stuffing.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture so the fish and stuffing do not dry out.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat into the fish during baking, adding moisture and savory flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the rich fish and fat.
The step that matters
Judging the bake time by thickness. Fish cooks through quickly once its flesh turns opaque and flakes easily, so a thick fish needs the longer end of the range while a thin one can overcook and dry out. Checking the thickest part helps avoid both underdone and dry fish.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, bread, butter, parsley, lemon, pepper, pork):
- Potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, bread, butter, parsley, lemon, pepper, pork. 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.
More baked fish recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Fried Fish120 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.