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Vegetable Marrows Stuffed with Fish

A baked dish of vegetable marrows filled with a fish and anchovy mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Vegetable Marrows Stuffed with Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cut the marrows in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.

  3. In a mortar, pound the boiled fish and anchovies until smooth.

  4. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk until soft, then squeeze dry and mix with the fish.

  5. Add the butter, season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, herbs, and spices, then mix in the beaten egg yolks to bind.

Stuff and bake

  1. Stuff the marrows with the fish mixture, wrap each half in buttered paper, and tie with twine.

  2. Place the wrapped marrows in a buttered baking dish, cover, and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Serve

  1. Once cooked, remove from the oven, place on a serving dish, and pour gravy over before serving.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Fish + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Vegetable marrows
Hollowed halves form the edible case that holds the filling while it bakes.
Boiled fish
Provides the main protein and bulk of the stuffing.
Egg yolks
Bind the fish mixture so it holds its shape when sliced and served.
Breadcrumbs
Soaked and squeezed, they add body and soften the texture of the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the filling and keeps the wrapped marrow from drying.
Anchovies
Add a salty, savoury depth that enriches the fish filling.

The step that matters

Binding the filling with egg yolks. Yolks are added to a loose mixture, and when heated they set and hold the filling together. Adding them too early or mixing them in unevenly can leave the stuffing loose or patchy after baking.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, milk, butter, pepper, egg):

  1. Parsleyfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Cinnamonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, milk, butter, pepper, egg. 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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