Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Ijaked Fish
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.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Baste the fish with pork fat and place it in a baking pan without water.
Bake the fish for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on its size.
Carefully lift the fish onto a hot platter and remove any trussing threads and salt pork.
Garnish with parsley, watercress, or Saratoga potatoes.
Serve with drawn butter or Hollandaise sauce.
For stuffing, mix cracker crumbs, salt, pepper, parsley, and melted butter.
If desired, add warm water or a beaten egg to moisten the stuffing.
Stuff the fish with the mixture, sew or tie it up, and bake as directed.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Fish + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cracker crumbs
- Form the bulk of the stuffing and soak up juices, giving it body.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the stuffing and fish moist and flavorful.
- Pork fat
- Coats the fish during basting, slowing moisture loss and adding flavor.
- Egg
- Optional binder that helps the stuffing hold together and stay moist.
The step that matters
Baste the fish before baking. Lean fish has little fat of its own and dries out quickly in dry oven heat. A fat coating on the surface slows moisture loss, so the fish stays tender without added water.
“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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