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
Make the butter mixture
For the butter mixture, melt the butter with water and flour over low heat.
Add pepper, salt, and parsley to the butter mixture.
Heat and serve
In a clean saucepan, combine the flaked fish with either Maitre d’Hotel sauce or the butter mixture.
Heat the fish slowly, stirring until well mixed.
If using the butter mixture, add lemon juice or chili vinegar just before serving.
Serve the fish 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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Parsley + parsniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together484 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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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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Flour + parsniptop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together669 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Forms a rich, smooth base that carries the flavor and coats the fish.
- Flour
- Thickens the melted butter and water into a light sauce that clings to the fish.
- Fish
- Provides the main body of the dish, to be warmed through gently without drying out.
The step that matters
Heating the fish slowly. Fish is delicate and its proteins toughen and dry out when overheated. Gentle heat with stirring warms it evenly and keeps the flakes moist and tender.
“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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