Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Salt Fish.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Boil the salt fish slowly in water for 45-60 minutes, skimming off any scum.
Remove the fish from the bones and skin, placing it in a clean saucepan.
Make the sauce and serve
In a separate pan, melt the butter with water and flour, then add pepper, salt, and parsley.
Heat the fish in the sauce, stirring until well mixed.
Add lemon juice or chili vinegar just before serving.
Serve in a deep dish with a border of mashed parsnips or potatoes.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Salt fish
- Is the main protein, cooked and flaked into the sauce to be served.
- Butter
- Melts with the flour to form a rich, smooth base for the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and water into a sauce that coats the fish.
- Lemon juice or chili vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich, salty sauce just before serving.
The step that matters
Add lemon juice or chili vinegar just before serving. Acid added too early can dull its bright flavour after heating, and it can thin or curdle the sauce if it is stirred in while very hot. Adding it last keeps the flavour fresh and the sauce smooth.
“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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