Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
To Dress the Sea Bream
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Open and clean the sea bream, but do not remove the scales.
Pat it dry with a cloth to absorb moisture.
Broil it slowly over a gentle fire for about 30 minutes, turning it halfway through.
If cracks appear, dredge a little flour on them.
Alternatively, season the inside with salt and pepper, dust the outside with more salt, and place bits of butter on top.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 25 to 30 minutes.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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