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Fish. Turbot to Boil.

A boiled turbot seasoned with salt, served with red coral spawn, parsley, lemon, and horseradish garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Fish. Turbot to Boil.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Clean the Turbot and rub it lightly with salt.

  2. Keep it in a cold place for a couple of days if fresh.

  3. Soak the fish in spring water with some salt for 1-2 hours before cooking.

  4. Score the skin across the thickest part of the back to prevent it from breaking.

Boil and finish

  1. In a fish kettle, add a large handful of salt to cold water and place the fish on a fish strainer.

  2. Bring the water to a boil, skim it well, then reduce the heat to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.

  3. Once cooked, rub the Red Coral spawn through a fine sieve and sprinkle it over the Turbot.

  4. Garnish with sprigs of curled parsley, lemon slices, and finely scraped horseradish.

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 + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Turbot + lobstertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  3. Parsley + horseradishtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together562 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Lemon + horseradishtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,155 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Turbot + horseradishtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together70 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Turbot
Forms the main body of the dish, with firm flesh that holds together during gentle simmering.
Salt
Seasons the fish throughout and firms the flesh when rubbed on and soaked before cooking.
Lobster red coral spawn
Adds a rich, delicate flavour and bright colour when rubbed through a sieve over the fish.

The step that matters

Simmering the fish gently. Boiling vigorously breaks up delicate fish flesh and can split the skin. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer cooks the turbot evenly while it stays whole and moist.

“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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