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Baked Shad

A whole shad baked with a breadcrumb and butter dressing, served with a roe and butter sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Baked Shad

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the shad

  1. Remove the scales and entrails from the shad, leaving the tail and head intact.

  2. Wash the shad thoroughly and dry it.

Stuff and bake

  1. In a bowl, mix the bread crumbs, butter, onion, marjoram, salt, and pepper to make the dressing.

  2. Fill the shad with the dressing and place it in a greased baking pan.

  3. Dredge the fish with flour, salt, and pepper.

  4. Pour hot water into the bottom of the pan.

  5. Add more water if it cooks away.

  6. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes per pound.

Make the roe sauce and serve

  1. Boil the roe.

  2. Skin the roe.

  3. Mash the roe finely.

  4. Mix the mashed roe with drawn butter.

  5. Serve immediately.

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. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Marjoram + flourtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,265 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Onion + marjoramtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,056 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Shad
Forms the main body of the dish, and its flesh cooks through in the oven.
Bread crumbs
Absorb butter and juices to form a moist, savoury stuffing.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour through the dressing and the sauce.
Roe
Gives a rich, creamy texture when mashed and mixed with butter.
Drawn butter
Adds fat and richness to the roe, making a smooth, flavourful sauce.

The step that matters

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes per pound. Fish is cooked when it turns opaque and flakes easily. Overbaking dries the flesh, so the timing per pound matters. Adding hot water to the pan keeps the fish moist while it cooks.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, marjoram, pepper, flour, roe):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, marjoram, pepper, flour, roe. 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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