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Soup De Poisson, or Fish Soup

A fish soup made with cod head stock, stewed fish cutlets, cream, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Soup De Poisson, or Fish Soup

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the stock

  1. Simmer the cod's head in enough water to cover it.

  2. Season the stock with pepper, coarse sea salt, mace, celery, parsley, sweet herbs, and onions.

  3. Strain the stock when done.

Stew the fish

  1. In a separate pot, stew the fish cutlets in equal parts water and wine, just enough to cover them, with butter and lemon juice for 15-20 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the stewed cutlets to the strained soup.

  2. Thicken the soup with cream and flour.

  3. Serve the soup with the cutlets in a tureen.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Cod's head
Gives the stock its body and fish flavour as it simmers.
Fish cutlets
Provide the flesh that is served in the soup, cooked gently in wine and water.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the poaching liquid for the cutlets.
Flour
Thickens the soup so it has a fuller, smoother body.
Cream
Adds richness and a softer, silkier texture to the thickened soup.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the cutlets as they stew.

The step that matters

Thickening the soup with cream and flour. Flour must be fully incorporated before or while the cream is added, otherwise it clumps and leaves a raw floury taste. Keep the soup below a hard boil so the cream does not curdle or separate.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pepper, celery, parsley, thyme, onion, white wine):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Fennelfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pepper, celery, parsley, thyme, onion, white wine. 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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