Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Red Mullet
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Bake the fish
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Wrap the cleaned red mullet in oil paper and place it in a small baking dish.
Bake the fish gently until cooked through.
Make the sauce and serve
In a saucepan, combine the fish liquor, butter, flour, essence of anchovies, and sherry.
Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring until thickened.
Serve the sauce in a sauce-boat and the fish in the paper.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Flour + sherrytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,643 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the sauce.
- Essence of anchovies
- Adds a salty, savoury depth to the sauce.
The step that matters
Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring until thickened. Flour thickens only when heated and kept moving; stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the base of the pan, while boiling fully activates the starch so the sauce sets to the intended consistency.
“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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