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Fish Stock

A clear broth made by simmering fish trimmings, shellfish, vegetables, herbs, and lemon, then strained and fat removed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Whiting and haddock match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 103 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Fish Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine fish trimmings, lobster shells, shrimp heads and tails, carrot, onions, lemon juice, bouquet, and peppercorns in a pot.

  2. Cover with cold water at a ratio of 1 quart per pound of fish bones.

Simmer

  1. Bring the mixture to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the surface.

  2. Let the stock simmer for just over an hour.

Strain and cool

  1. Strain the stock through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.

  2. Allow the strained stock to cool, then remove any fat that rises to the top before using.

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. Whiting + haddocktop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together103 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Whiting + lobstertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together73 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  4. Haddock + lobstertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together31 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Lobster + shrimptop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together403 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish trimmings
Provide the main body of flavour and gelatin-rich structure to the stock.
Lobster shells
Add a deeper, sweeter seafood aroma and extra flavour to the stock.
Shrimp heads and tails
Contribute concentrated shellfish flavour and aroma to the stock.
Onions
Add sweetness and savoury depth as they release their flavour during simmering.
Carrot
Adds gentle sweetness and body to the background flavour of the stock.

The step that matters

Skim off the foam after bringing to a boil. Foam carries impurities and proteins from the bones and shells. If it is left to boil back in, the stock can turn cloudy and taste muddy.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, whiting, haddock, lobster, shrimp, onion, lemon):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, whiting, haddock, lobster, shrimp, onion, lemon. 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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