Name: Red Mullet a LA Bequinot
Ingredients: 3 red mullet, scaled and boned; 1 onion, thinly sliced; 1 carrot, thinly sliced; 1 sprig of parsley, chopped; 1 tablespoon salad oil; juice of 1 lemon

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Red Mullet a LA Bequinot

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).
Place the boned red mullet in a baking tin.

Dress and bake

Top the fillets with the sliced onion, carrot, and chopped parsley.
Drizzle with salad oil and lemon juice.
Bake in the oven until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

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.

Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Carrot + lemontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,351 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Red mullet: Forms the main protein, cooking to tender, flaky flesh in the oven.
Salad oil: Adds fat that carries moisture and helps keep the fish from drying out.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the fish and vegetables.
Onion: Releases moisture and sweetness as it bakes over the fish.
Carrot: Adds subtle sweetness and moisture as it softens in the oven.