Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Broiled Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean, wash, and dry the fish thoroughly.
Cook
Lay the fish in a folding boiler over a clear, bright fire.
Turn the fish frequently while cooking.
Cook until well done and a delicate brown on both sides, about 20 minutes.
Season and serve
Season sparingly with butter, salt, and pepper.
Serve on hot plates.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,948 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the dish; its flesh firms and becomes opaque as it cooks through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the cooked fish and carries flavor.
The step that matters
Turning the fish frequently while it cooks. Direct heat from a fire can scorch the side facing it while the other side cooks slowly. Turning often spreads the heat evenly, so the fish browns on both sides and cooks through without drying out or burning.
“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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