Why it works: Fish and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,341 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Water Souchy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
In a pot, add enough water to just cover the fish.
Add salt, peppercorns, green parsley, and cut parsley roots.
Simmer until the parsley roots are tender, about 30-60 minutes.
Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Cook and serve
Clean the fish, removing any brown skin, and cut into 2-inch pieces.
Gently add the fish to the pot and stew for 8-12 minutes, being careful not to overcook.
Two minutes before serving, add minced parsley or small branches of boiled parsley.
Carefully lift out the fish and parsley roots, and pour the cooking liquid over them.
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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Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently in the seasoned broth to become tender and flaky.
- Parsley roots
- Release their flavour into the broth, giving the soup its herbal, savoury base.
- White peppercorns
- Add a mild, warm pungency that seasons the broth without visible specks.
The step that matters
Gently add the fish and stew it briefly. Fish proteins toughen and dry out when overcooked, so it should be stewed just until opaque and tender in barely simmering liquid, then removed promptly.
“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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