Why it works: Haddock and butter work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 764 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Haddock
Ingredients
Directions
Grill the haddock
Pepper the haddock lightly and place it skin-side down on a grill over a clear, hot fire.
Cook until warmed through, then remove from heat.
Serve with cold butter on a small plate.
Alternative method
Alternatively, spread butter inside a dried haddock and place it in a Dutch oven to toast before a good fire.
Serve with cold butter on a small plate.
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.
-
Haddock + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together764 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Haddock
- Its flesh is the main component, turning opaque and flaky as the proteins set with heat.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and its cold pieces melt into the warm fish as a moist finish.
The step that matters
Cook until warmed through, then remove from heat. Fish is lean and its proteins tighten quickly with heat. Pulling it off the heat as soon as it is warmed through keeps the flesh moist and tender rather than dry and chalky.
“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.
You might also like
Boiled Haddock10 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.