Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Turbot Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the turbot across in the thickest part on the underside.
Rub the upper part of the turbot with lemon.
Place the turbot in a kettle with cold spring water and plenty of coarse sea salt.
Poach and serve
Bring to a boil over high heat, then skim the surface.
Reduce heat and simmer gently until cooked through.
Serve with lobster sauce in a boat.
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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Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together248 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + lobstertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + lemontop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Lemon + lobstertop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,100 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turbot
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming flaky and tender as its proteins set during gentle poaching.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma to the fish's surface, brightening its mild flavour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the poaching water so the fish is seasoned evenly as it cooks.
- Lobster sauce
- Provides a rich, savoury accompaniment that adds fat and flavour to each serving of fish.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until cooked through. Boiling vigorously toughens the delicate fish proteins and breaks the flesh apart, so the water should only simmer gently while the turbot cooks through.
“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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