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Plaice, Baked

A baked plaice stuffed with breadcrumb and herb mixture, topped with breadcrumbs and dripping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓

Plaice, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix the white breadcrumbs, suet, parsley, herbs, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

  3. Add the egg and enough milk to moisten the mixture thoroughly.

Stuff and bake

  1. Make an incision down the center of the fish and lift the flesh on each side.

  2. Fill the cavity with the forcemeat mixture, leaving the sides open. Flatten the surface of the fish with a knife to level it.

  3. Brush the top with the remaining half of the egg and sprinkle with pale browned breadcrumbs.

  4. Dot with small pieces of dripping and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

  5. Serve with a suitable sauce.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  3. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  4. Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Plaice
Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently in the oven.
Egg
Binds the stuffing together and helps it hold its shape when baked.
White breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and give the stuffing a light, soft body.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich during baking.
Dripping
Adds fat to the top, encouraging browning and a savoury flavour.

The step that matters

Stuffing the fish and leveling the surface. Packing the cavity without overfilling keeps the stuffing from spilling out, and a level top lets the fish cook evenly. Breadcrumbs and egg hold the stuffing together as the fish heats.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against nutmeg, pepper, egg, milk. 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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