Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,036 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the sauce
In a stewpan, combine the strong stock, chopped shallot, dried herbs, and parsley.
Rub the flour with enough stock to make a smooth paste and add it to the stewpan.
Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the fish and serve
Sprinkle the cold fish flakes with salt and add them to the stewpan.
Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and mushroom ketchup.
Serve the fish with the sauce.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,036 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Shallot + parsleytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,718 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Shallot + mushroomtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,960 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Shallot + lemontop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,484 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Shallot + flourtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,031 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the stock into a smooth sauce that coats the fish.
- Strong stock
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce and carries the flavour of the dish.
- Flakes of cold boiled cod
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender as it warms through in the sauce.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds savoury depth and umami to the finished sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances its richness.
The step that matters
Adding the lemon juice and mushroom ketchup just before serving. Acidic and savoury flavourings added to a long-simmered sauce can turn dull or sharp when cooked further. Stirring them in at the end keeps their fresh, bright flavour.
“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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