Why it works: Corn and parsley work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 943 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Water Souchy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
In a pot, combine water, salt, white pepper, green parsley, and cut parsley roots.
Simmer until the parsley roots are tender, about 30 to 60 minutes.
Cook the fish
Clean the fish, removing any brown skin, and cut into 2-inch portions.
Add the fish to the pot, skimming off any scum that rises.
Stew the fish gently for 8 to 12 minutes, being careful not to overcook.
Two minutes before serving, add minced parsley or boiled green parsley branches.
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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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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White pepper + parsleytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,451 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Parsley + fishtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,341 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Corn + fishtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together70 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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White pepper + fishtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together191 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the body of the stew; gentle cooking keeps its flesh tender and moist.
- Parsley roots
- Release flavour into the broth during the long simmer, giving the stew its savoury base.
- Green parsley
- Adds fresh, herbal aroma when added near the end of cooking.
The step that matters
Stew the fish gently. Fish proteins toughen and dry out quickly at a hard boil. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer and timing the cook to 8 to 12 minutes keeps the flesh tender and moist.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, parsley, fish):
- Tarragonfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Capersfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, parsley, fish. 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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