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Turbot with Macaroni in a Gratin

A gratin of flaked turbot mixed with cream sauce and macaroni, topped with breadcrumbs and clarified butter, broiled until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Turbot with Macaroni in a Gratin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the flesh from the leftover turbot and place it in hot water to separate into flakes.

Assemble

  1. Combine the turbot flakes with the cream sauce and cooked macaroni, ensuring there is no excess water.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

  3. Drizzle clarified butter over the top and add more bread crumbs.

Brown and serve

  1. Brown gently under a broiler until golden, then serve.

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. Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together248 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Turbot + creamtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Leftover turbot
Provides the main flaked fish that gives the gratin its savory body.
Cream sauce
Adds moisture and richness that binds the fish and macaroni together.
Cooked macaroni
Gives the gratin bulk and a starchy, tender structure when baked.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping when browned under the broiler.
Clarified butter
Adds fat that promotes browning and a rich flavor on the crumb topping.

The step that matters

Ensuring there is no excess water. Excess water from the flaked fish or cooking liquid dilutes the cream sauce and makes the gratin soggy instead of creamy, and it also keeps the topping from browning well.

“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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