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A Superior Receipt for Stewed Carp

A stew of whole carp simmered in a spiced gravy with port wine, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

A Superior Receipt for Stewed Carp

Ingredients

Directions

Stew the carp

  1. In a saucepan, combine the cleaned carp and strong, rich gravy.

  2. Season with onion, parsley roots, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.

  3. Stew gently until nearly done.

Finish the sauce

  1. Mix port wine, vinegar, brown sugar, lemon juice, and flour with some gravy from the saucepan.

  2. Pour the mixture over the fish and let it boil until the gravy thickens.

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. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Carp
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently until tender in the gravy.
Flour
Thickens the gravy as it boils, giving it body.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharp vinegar and lemon juice.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich gravy and cuts its heaviness.
Port wine
Adds depth and fruity sweetness to the sauce.

The step that matters

Let the gravy boil until it thickens. Flour must be heated to boiling in the liquid to swell and thicken the sauce fully; a gentle simmer can leave it thin and floury-tasting. Stirring while it heats also prevents lumps.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, allspice, nutmeg, clove, ginger, port wine, vinegar):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, allspice, nutmeg, clove, ginger, port 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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