Why it works: Fish and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,889 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fish a LA Creme
Ingredients
Directions
Poach the fish
Rub the fish with coarse sea salt.
Place the fish in a kettle and cover it with boiling water.
Once it boils, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 1 hour.
Remove the fish and carefully take out all the bones.
Make the cream sauce
In a saucepan, add 1 ounce of flour and gradually mix in 1 quart of cream or milk until smooth.
Stir in the juice of 1 lemon.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Fish + lemontop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,889 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Fish + creamtop 24% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together937 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Fish + flourtop 27% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Firm saltwater fish
- Provides the main body of the dish, holding together as it poaches.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the cream so it becomes a smooth, pourable sauce.
- Cream or whole milk
- Forms the rich base of the sauce and adds moisture and softness.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the rich cream sauce.
The step that matters
Simmer the fish gently. Once the water boils, the heat must be lowered so the fish cooks slowly. A hard boil breaks up the delicate flesh and makes it tough and ragged.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, flour, cream):
- Raisinbetter flavor fit
- Coconutbetter flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
- Vanillaabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, flour, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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