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Mackerel Stewed with Wine

A stew of mackerel simmered in wine, butter, flour, spices, and mustard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mackerel Stewed with Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. In a stewpan, mix the flour and butter until smooth.

  2. Heat over low heat until the butter is melted.

  3. Add the mace, salt, and cayenne pepper.

  4. Gradually pour in the claret and bring the sauce to a boil.

Stew and serve

  1. Gently add the mackerel and stew for 15 to 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

  2. Carefully remove the mackerel and place on a serving dish.

  3. Stir the mustard into the sauce, bring to a boil, and pour over the fish.

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. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + port winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,499 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Mace + port winetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together695 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Mackerel
The main fish, which cooks gently in the sauce until tender and flaky.
Flour
Thickens the butter and claret sauce so it coats the fish.
Butter
Adds richness and carries the flour and spices into the sauce.
Claret
Forms the liquid base of the sauce and adds acidity and depth of flavour.
Prepared mustard
Adds sharp, savoury flavour that balances the richness of the sauce.

The step that matters

Gently add the mackerel and stew. Once the fish goes into the sauce, a rolling boil can break the delicate flesh apart. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer and turning the fish once helps it stay whole and cook evenly.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, pepper, port wine, mustard. 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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