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Fish Eelish

A layered casserole of fish, eggs, roe, and mashed potatoes baked until bubbly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓

Fish Eelish

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix the roe with the butter and the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer mashed potatoes at the bottom of a deep buttered dish.

  2. Add a layer of minced fish, then a layer of the roe mixture, and sprinkle with the rings of the egg whites.

  3. Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of mashed potatoes on top.

  4. Cover the dish and bake until it smokes and bubbles.

  5. Remove the cover for a few minutes to brown the top.

Serve

  1. Serve directly from the baking dish with pickles.

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

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

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Roe
Provides rich, savory flavor and a soft, custard-like texture when mixed with butter and egg yolk.
Cold fish
Forms the main protein layer, giving the dish its body and savory flavor.
Mashed potato
Adds moisture and bulk, forming the soft layers that surround the fish and roe.
Hard boiled eggs
Yolks bind the roe mixture into a smooth spread; whites add texture as garnish rings.
Drawn butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor and keeping the layers moist during baking.

The step that matters

Remove the cover to brown the top. Covered baking traps steam and keeps the surface pale; uncovering for a few minutes lets dry heat drive browning reactions on the potato top. Watch closely so it does not dry out.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, fish, roe, parsley, pepper. 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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