Why it works: Butter and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 41,197 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: flour, fish
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fish
Prepare the sole as directed.
Cut four diagonal incisions on each side.
Rub in the salt and minced eschalots.
Flour the sole and broil over a slow fire.
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a clean pan. Add lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne.
Finish and serve
Place the sole in a hot gratin dish.
Rub the sauce into the incisions.
Cover the fish with the remaining sauce.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 2 minutes and serve immediately.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + lemontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,197 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sole
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking into flaky, tender fillets.
- Butter
- Carries the sauce and adds richness and moisture to the fish.
- Eschalots
- Add a mild, sharp aromatic flavour to the salted fish and sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the buttery sauce and balances its richness.
The step that matters
Broil over a slow fire. Broiling at too high a heat can scorch the flour coating before the thick fish cooks through. A slow, steady heat browns the surface gently while the flesh becomes opaque and tender.
“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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