Why it works: Wine and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,493 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Boiled Cod Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wipe the cod fish with a cloth and place it in a fish kettle.
Cover completely with cold water and season with coarse sea salt.
Add the sliced onion, cloves, peppercorns, and a splash of vinegar.
Cook and serve
Bring to a boil quickly, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 5 minutes until cooked.
Drain well, serve on a folded napkin, and accompany with oyster sauce.
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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Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,493 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Clove + winetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,958 recipes
Shared aroma: cis-isoeugenol (clove, spicy).
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Clove + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,386 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking to flaky, tender pieces when poached gently.
- French wine
- Adds acidity and aroma to the poaching liquid, lending a subtle flavour to the fish.
The step that matters
Simmer gently after bringing to a boil. Once the liquid boils, reducing the heat to a gentle simmer keeps the fish from toughening. Rapid boiling forces proteins to contract and squeeze out moisture, leaving the flesh dry and firm.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, onion, wine, vinegar):
- Garlicfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, onion, wine, vinegar. 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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