Why it works: Fish and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,341 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Water Souchy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
In a pot, add enough water to just cover the fish.
Stir in the salt, peppercorns, green parsley, and cut parsley roots.
Simmer for 30-60 minutes until the parsley roots are tender.
Cook the fish
Clean the fish, removing any brown skin, and cut into 2-inch pieces.
Add the fish to the pot and skim off any scum that rises.
Cook the fish gently for 8-12 minutes, being careful not to overcook.
Two minutes before serving, add minced parsley or boiled green parsley from a separate saucepan.
Carefully lift out the fish and parsley roots, and pour the cooking liquid over them.
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.
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Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the main body of the soup and its flesh, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the broth and helps draw flavour from the fish and herbs into the liquid.
- Parsley roots
- Release their flavour into the broth during the long simmer, adding earthy depth.
The step that matters
Cooking the fish gently. Fish proteins tighten and turn dry and rubbery when boiled hard or left too long, so the pot should barely simmer and be checked closely within the time range.
“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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