Name: Crimped Cod and Oyster Sauce
Ingredients: 3 slices of crimped cod (about 1 pound each); ½ pound of liver; parsley (for garnish); 2 cups of oyster sauce (for serving)

Why it works: Oyster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,233 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Crimped Cod and Oyster Sauce

Ingredients

3 slices of crimped cod (about 1 pound each)
½ pound of liver
parsley (for garnish)
2 cups of oyster sauce (for serving)

Directions

Place the cod and liver in a fish kettle and boil for about 10 minutes.
Drain the fish and serve on a napkin garnished with parsley.
Serve the oyster sauce in a separate boat.

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.

Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,233 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Liver + oystertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together179 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Liver + parsleytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,095 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Parsley + oystertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Parsley + saucetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,693 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Cod: Forms the main flaky body of the dish, cooked gently by boiling.
Liver: Adds richness and a soft, creamy texture to the dish.
Oyster sauce: Adds savory, salty depth as a serving sauce alongside the fish.