Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Turbot Boiled with Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Poach the fish
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the turbot and cook until it is opaque and flakes easily, about 15-20 minutes.
Prepare and serve
Prepare the lobster sauce separately according to your preferred recipe.
Serve the turbot hot with lobster sauce drizzled on top.
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.
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Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together248 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + lobstertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turbot
- Provides the main body of the dish; it turns opaque and flaky as the protein sets during gentle cooking.
- Lobster sauce
- Adds richness and flavour to the mild fish, with its fat and seasoning carrying the dish.
The step that matters
Cooking the turbot until just opaque. Fish protein sets as it heats, and past that point it dries out and turns tough. Checking for opaque flesh that flakes easily helps you stop at the right moment.
“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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