Why it works: Horse and radish work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 528 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-hexanol, which smells resin, flower. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: fish
Directions
Prepare
Rub coarse sea salt along the bone and thick part of the fish.
Tie the fish with broad tape to prevent the cheeks from breaking.
Poach and check
Place the fish in a pot and cover it with cold water.
Add a handful of salt, vinegar, and horseradish to the water.
Bring the water to a gentle boil and cook for about 1 hour.
Check if the meat separates easily from the backbone to determine doneness.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Horse + radishtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together528 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).
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Vinegar + radishtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together507 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Vinegar + horsetop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together331 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Codfish
- Provides the main protein, which firms and flakes as it cooks.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the poaching liquid.
- Horse-radish
- Adds pungent aroma and sharp heat that carries into the cooking water.
The step that matters
Keeping the water at a gentle boil. A rolling boil agitates the fish and can break up the delicate flesh and cheeks. A gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly and keeps it intact.
“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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