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Mackerel, Pickled

A mackerel fillet pickled in vinegar, water, spices, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mackerel, Pickled

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Clean and wash the mackerel, removing the roes.

  2. Place the mackerel in an earthenware baking dish with the roes.

  3. Sprinkle the fish well with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

Bake and serve

  1. Add the bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns, vinegar, and water.

  2. Cover with greased paper and bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for nearly 1 hour.

  3. Let the mackerel remain in the liquid until ready to serve.

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 + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mackerel
Forms the main body of the dish and becomes firm and flaky as it bakes.
Vinegar
Acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fish in the liquid.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the fish and draws out moisture to firm its flesh.
Bay leaves
Adds a subtle aromatic, herbal flavour to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Baking in a cool oven under greased paper. A low, gentle heat cooks the fish through slowly so it stays tender rather than drying or breaking apart. The covering traps moisture so the fish steams in the vinegar and water rather than drying out at the surface.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, pepper. 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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