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 ↓
Baked Stuffed Haddock
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Clean the haddock and remove the gills.
In a pan, melt the butter and sauté the onion until soft.
Mix the breadcrumbs, sautéed onion, parsley, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Stuff and bake
Stuff the mixture into the haddock.
Place the stuffed haddock in a baking dish and top with lemon slices.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Haddock
- Forms the main body of the dish and becomes flaky and tender as it cooks through.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb moisture and butter from the filling, giving the stuffing a soft, cohesive texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the onion soften and carrying flavour through the stuffing.
- Onion
- Adds savoury sweetness and aroma when softened in butter before stuffing.
The step that matters
Bake until the fish is cooked through. Fish cooks quickly and turns dry once overcooked, while undercooked fish is unsafe. The stuffing sits in the cavity and can insulate the centre, so check the thickest part of the fish rather than relying on the time alone.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, butter, parsley, pepper, lemon):
- Shallotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, butter, parsley, pepper, lemon. 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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