Why it works: Chive and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 450 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Whiting Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the cleaned whiting in oil, chives, parsley, shallots, salt, and pepper for 2 hours, basting occasionally.
Cook and serve
Broil the whiting over a hot fire, moistening with the soaking oil.
Serve with melted butter or a white sauce with capers.
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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Chive + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together450 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Chive + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Chive + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,885 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whiting
- Is the main protein, cooked whole until the flesh turns opaque and flakes.
- Oil
- Carries the herbs and seasoning and keeps the fish moist while it broils.
- Shallots
- Add a mild onion-like sharpness that infuses the oil during the soak.
- Chives
- Add a light, fresh onion flavor to the soaking oil.
- Parsley
- Adds a fresh, green herbal aroma to the soaking oil.
The step that matters
Moistening with the soaking oil under the broiler. Whiting is lean and dries out quickly under high heat. Basting with the herb-infused oil keeps the surface moist and helps the flesh cook gently while the outside browns.
“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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