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Flounders, Halibut, and Flat Fish, Stewed

A baked stew of flounder, halibut, or flat fish with butter, flour, nutmeg, parsley, mushrooms, white wine, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Flounders, Halibut, and Flat Fish, Stewed

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 the sauce

  1. Clean the fish and place it in a crockery dish.

  2. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.

  3. Stir in the flour, nutmeg, salt, pepper, parsley, and mushrooms.

Stew and serve

  1. Add the fish to the mixture and pour in the white wine and brandy.

  2. Cover the dish and transfer it to a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C).

  3. Serve the fish in the crockery dish once cooked.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  4. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the sauce and coating the fish.
Flour
Thickens the cooking liquid into a smooth, lightly body-filled sauce.
Mushrooms
Add earthy, savory flavor and moisture as they soften in the butter.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma, and helps create moist steam around the fish.
French brandy
Contributes aroma and warmth to the sauce, deepening the overall flavor.

The step that matters

Covering and baking the fish. Fish is delicate and overcooks quickly, becoming dry and tough. Covering the dish lets the liquid steam the fish gently, so check it as it turns opaque and flakes easily.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, flour, pepper, parsley, mushroom, white wine):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, flour, pepper, parsley, mushroom, white wine. 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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