Why it works: Smelt and flour work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 164 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Fried Smelts
Ingredients
Directions
Clean the smelts and remove the heads.
Season with salt and pepper.
Dredge in flour to coat evenly.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Fry the smelts until golden brown on both sides.
Drain on paper towels before serving.
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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Smelt + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together164 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Smelt + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together175 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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