Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,037 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Sole Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Wash the soles and dry them with a cloth.
Remove the outside fins and loosen the skin from the soles.
Grease a baking tin.
Nick the soles in two or three places.
Assemble
Sprinkle half the chopped mushrooms on the tin.
Season with salt, pepper, and a few drops of lemon juice.
Place the soles in the tin, skin side up.
Top the soles with the remaining mushrooms.
Season again with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs.
Bake and serve
Bake in the oven until cooked through.
Serve hot.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Soles
- The fish is the main protein, cooking through to become flaky and tender.
- Mushrooms
- Release moisture as they cook, keeping the fish and topping juicy beneath the crust.
- Stale bread
- Makes the breadcrumbs that brown on top, adding a crisp golden gratin crust.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the mild flavour of the fish.
- Shallot
- Adds a mild, sweet onion-like aroma to the mushroom and fish topping.
The step that matters
Bake until cooked through, not dry. Fish is done when its flesh turns opaque and flakes easily. Overbaking squeezes out moisture and leaves it dry and tough, so check it early.
“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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