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Soused Mackerel

A mackerel preserved in vinegar and water, seasoned with pepper, salt, bay leaves, and garnished with fennel.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and fennel match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Soused Mackerel

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. After boiling the mackerel, let it cool slightly.

  2. Place the mackerel in a deep dish.

Marinate

  1. Cover the fish with equal parts vinegar and the water used for boiling.

  2. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.

  3. Add a few bay leaves for flavor.

Serve

  1. Garnish with fennel.

  2. Serve at supper or dinner the next day.

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. Pepper + fenneltop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Fish + fenneltop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  4. Vinegar + fenneltop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together505 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  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

Mackerel
Is the main protein, firm enough to hold its shape through the soak.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that sharpens the flavor and firms the fish's surface during pickling.
Bay leaves
Add a subtle herbal aroma to the marinade.

The step that matters

Covering the fish with the vinegar and water mixture. The fish must be fully submerged so the acidic liquid penetrates evenly; any exposed areas may spoil or taste uneven. Using equal parts vinegar and cooking water balances sharpness with savoriness.

Swap the fennel

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

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. Fennelthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, fish, pepper. 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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