Name: Stewed Cod Fish, in Brown Sauce
Ingredients: cod fish, sliced; flour, for dusting; coarse sea salt, to taste; cayenne pepper, to taste; good boiling brown gravy, enough to nearly cover the fish; ½ cup port wine or claret; 2 teaspoons chili vinegar or juice of ½ lemon; 1½ ounces butter, softened; 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; a pinch of ground mace; 1 teaspoon soy sauce (optional); 1 teaspoon essence of anchovies (optional); 2 tablespoons Harvey's sauce (optional)

Why it works: Port wine and vinegar work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 598 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

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.

Port wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together598 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,488 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Port wine + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,499 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cod fish: Forms the flaky main body of the dish, which softens and breaks apart when gently stewed.
Flour: Dusting coats the fish so it browns during frying and helps thicken the sauce when kneaded with butter.
Butter: Kneaded with flour, it enriches the sauce and gives it a smooth, glossy body when stirred in.
Port wine or claret: Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the sauce as it stews with the fish.
Brown gravy: Forms the savoury liquid that the fish simmers in and becomes the base of the sauce.

The step that matters

Stew the fish gently until it just begins to break apart. High heat or long simmering toughens and overcooks the delicate flesh of cod, so it turns dry and falls into shreds. Gentle heat cooks it through while keeping flakes intact.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, flour, pepper, port wine, vinegar, butter, sauce):

Tarragonfits better
Capersfits better
Parsleyfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, flour, pepper, port wine, vinegar, butter, sauce. 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.

Stewed Cod Fish, in Brown Sauce