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Sole, Whiting, or Any Other Fish, an Gratin

A baked fish gratin with onions, parsley, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, clarified butter, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Sole, Whiting, or Any Other Fish, an Gratin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Prepare the fish for frying without flouring it.

  2. Rub the fish with sweet oil or egg white.

  3. Dredge the fish with breadcrumbs.

Add the vegetables

  1. Chop the onions finely.

  2. Chop the parsley finely.

  3. Place the chopped onions over the fish and around the dish.

  4. Place the chopped parsley over the fish and around the dish.

  5. Soak the mushrooms in vinegar and water for 30 minutes.

  6. Cut the soaked mushrooms into small pieces.

  7. Arrange the mushroom pieces around the fish.

  8. Pour clarified butter over the fish.

  9. Pour light wine over the fish.

Cook and serve

  1. Cook the dish over a slow charcoal fire, covered with a lid, for 30 to 45 minutes, renewing the charcoal as needed.

  2. Serve the fish in the same dish it was cooked in, placed on another dish, and serve hot.

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. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  2. Mushroom + winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Parsley + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,132 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

Fish
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently under cover to stay moist.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crust over the fish that helps it brown and hold moisture.
Clarified butter
Adds richness and helps the surface brown during cooking.
Light wine
Adds acidity and aroma that season the fish as it cooks.
Mushrooms
Contribute moisture and savory flavor to the dish.

The step that matters

Cook over a slow charcoal fire, covered. Gentle, steady heat cooks the fish through without drying or burning the breadcrumb crust. Covering the dish traps steam so the fish stays moist. Renewing the charcoal keeps the heat even over the full cooking time.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, egg, parsley, mushroom, vinegar, butter, 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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