Why it works: Parsley and carrot 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 ↓
Water Souchy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
In a stewpan, combine water, chopped parsley, roots, and enough coarse sea salt to make the water brackish.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Cook and serve
Add the fish to the simmering water and cook until done.
Remove the fish and let them drain.
Place the fish in a tureen or deep dish.
Strain the cooking liquid over the fish.
Garnish with minced parsley and sliced roots.
Serve with brown bread and butter.
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 + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,842 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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 stew and is cooked gently in the seasoned broth until done.
- Roots
- Release sweetness and earthy flavour into the broth as they simmer.
- Parsley
- Adds a fresh, herbal aroma to the broth.
The step that matters
Simmering the fish until done. Fish proteins set and toughen quickly at high heat, so it should cook gently just until opaque and flaky, otherwise it becomes dry and falls apart.
Swap the turnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, carrot, fish, bread, butter):
- Leekfits better
- Potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Turnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, carrot, fish, bread, butter. 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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