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A Timbale of Fish

A baked fish and macaroni dish cooked in a buttered mold and topped with white sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

A Timbale of Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Mix the macaroni, fish, butter, hot milk, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and beaten eggs thoroughly.

  2. Pour the mixture into a buttered mold.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam for 30 minutes.

  2. Cover with white sauce and garnish with parsley.

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 + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Fish + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when heated, binding the mixture into a firm, sliceable timbale.
Macaroni
Adds bulk and body, giving the timbale a substantial texture.
Fish
Provides the main protein and flavor, setting within the egg mixture.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel.
Milk
Adds moisture and softens the egg mixture for a tender set.
Lemon juice
Adds brightness and acidity to balance the richness.

The step that matters

Steam gently and steadily. Egg proteins set as they heat. Too much heat tightens them quickly, making the timbale spongy, watery, or curdled. Steady, moderate steam gives a smooth, even set.

“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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