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Turbot

A steamed turbot fish seasoned with alegar, herbs, and served with oyster garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Turbot

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Rub alegar over the fish to firm it up.

  2. Place the fish belly upwards in a fish plate and cover tightly with a cloth.

Poach the fish

  1. Boil water with plenty of salt and vinegar; ensure it is boiling before adding the fish.

  2. Boil gently and skim the surface to prevent discoloration.

  3. Once cooked, carefully remove the fish and drain it.

  4. Remove the cloth and transfer the fish to a serving dish cautiously.

Serve

  1. Garnish with oyster patties or fried oysters, and serve with lobster or gravy sauce in boats.

Alternative method

  1. For an alternative method, layer thyme, parsley, sweet herbs, and sliced onion in a stew pan.

  2. Place the fish on top and sprinkle with the same herbs, chives, and sweet basil.

  3. Cover with white wine and cook as desired.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Parsley + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,351 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Alegar or vinegar
Acidity firms the fish flesh and adds a sharp, clean flavour.
White wine
Adds acidity and aromatic flavour to the stewing liquid for the alternative method.
Onion
Adds savoury sweetness and aroma to the herb base in the alternative method.

The step that matters

Keep the water at a gentle boil and skim the surface. Boiling vigorously can break up the delicate flesh, while skimming removes foam and residue that would cloud the fish and cause discoloration.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turbot, fish, vinegar, thyme, parsley, chive, basil):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turbot, fish, vinegar, thyme, parsley, chive, basil. 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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