Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Fish Pie
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.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Butter a shallow pie dish and sprinkle a few breadcrumbs on the bottom.
Season the flaked fish with cayenne and anchovy sauce, then place it in the pie dish.
Top the fish with mashed potatoes and sprinkle more breadcrumbs on top.
Dot the top with small pieces of butter.
Bake for 30 minutes.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together637 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, anchovy, sauce, butter):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Onionfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, anchovy, sauce, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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