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Fish Gravy

A thickened fish broth made from fish bones, heads, tails, onion, pepper, salt, herbs, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fish Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove all bones from the fish and cut off the head and tails.

  2. If needed, add a flounder or eel.

Make the gravy

  1. Stew the fish parts with onion, pepper, salt, and sweet herbs.

  2. Strain the mixture and thicken it to a cream-like consistency.

  3. Flavor with a slight addition of wine or another sauce.

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. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Pepper + winetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Fish + oniontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,924 recipes

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

  4. Onion + winetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish bones
Release gelatin and savory flavor into the stock as they stew, giving body to the gravy.
Fish head and tails
Add gelatin and concentrated fish flavor to the stewing liquid.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the stewed base.
Flounder or eel
Adds extra fish flavor and richness to the stock when used.

The step that matters

Straining and thickening the stewed mixture. Fish stock left with solids or thinned too little will look gritty or watery. Straining removes bone and fragments, and gentle reduction concentrates the body so the gravy reaches a smooth, cream-like texture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pepper, wine):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pepper, 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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