Why it works: Vinegar and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,513 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Crimped Skate
Ingredients
Directions
Skin and wash the skate thoroughly.
Cut the skate into 1-inch wide strips.
Roll each strip over one or two fingers and drop into cold water.
Place the remaining parts of the fish and the liver into water.
Boil the rolled skate with a piece of liver in the center in vinegar, salt, and water for 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain the skate by holding it just above the pot.
Pour brown butter sauce over the skate and serve.
Tie the rolled pieces lightly with fine string to prevent uncurling while boiling.
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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Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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