Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Turbot Au Gratin
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.
Prepare the fish
Flake the cooked fish into pieces using a spoon.
In a bowl, mix the cream sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice with the fish flakes.
Transfer the mixture to a shallow fireproof dish.
Top and bake
Melt the butter and mix it with the breadcrumbs until browned.
Cover the fish mixture with the browned breadcrumbs.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 20 minutes.
Serve immediately.
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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Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together248 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together127 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream sauce
- Provides moisture and a rich, creamy body that binds the fish flakes.
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and helps the topping brown when baked.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, golden crust over the fish mixture when baked in butter.
- Butter
- Fat that browns the breadcrumbs and adds richness to the topping.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the rich sauce and mild fish.
The step that matters
Browning the breadcrumbs in butter. Butter must be melted and mixed with the crumbs until they are evenly browned before topping. Browning develops nutty flavour and a crisp crust, while pale, unevenly coated crumbs stay soft and bland in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turbot, cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, butter):
- Coconutfits about as well
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Bananafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against turbot, cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, butter. 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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