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Sturgeon

Sturgeon simmered in a vinegar and vegetable liquor, then served with lobster sauce, prawns and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Sturgeon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean and skin the sturgeon thoroughly.

  2. Shape the sturgeon firmly with tape.

  3. Place the sturgeon in a saucepan.

Cook

  1. Add the onion, mace, carrot, sweet herbs, vinegar, and enough water to cover the fish.

  2. Boil gently until the sturgeon is cooked, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Serve

  1. Transfer the sturgeon to a dish.

  2. Pour lobster sauce over the sturgeon.

  3. Serve with prawns and parsley as garnish.

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.

  1. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Sturgeon + lobstertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Sturgeon
The main fish; it is the dish's protein and sets its texture when gently poached.
Vinegar
Adds acidity to the poaching liquid, which can help the fish hold its firmness.
Onion
Contributes aromatic flavour to the poaching liquid as it cooks.
Carrot
Adds sweetness and aromatic flavour to the poaching liquid.

The step that matters

Boil gently until the sturgeon is cooked. A vigorous boil can break up and toughen delicate fish flesh, while gentle simmering cooks it evenly and keeps it moist and intact.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sturgeon, onion, clove, carrot, vinegar, fish, lobster):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sturgeon, onion, clove, carrot, vinegar, fish, lobster. 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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