Name: Fish Pie
Ingredients: remains of any cold fish; mashed potatoes; anchovy sauce; 2 tablespoons butter; breadcrumbs; ¼ teaspoon cayenne

Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Fish Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Butter a shallow pie dish and sprinkle a few breadcrumbs over the bottom.

Assemble

Flake the fish and season it with cayenne and anchovy sauce.
Layer the seasoned fish in the pie dish and top with mashed potatoes.
Sprinkle more breadcrumbs over the potatoes and dot with small pieces of butter.

Bake

Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together637 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,488 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,697 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fish: Forms the main body of the pie, giving it savoury flavour and a flaky texture.
Mashed potatoes: Forms a soft topping that insulates the fish and browns in the oven.
Butter: Adds richness and moisture, and helps the top brown as it melts.
Breadcrumbs: Form a crisp, golden crust over the potatoes and a dry layer under the fish.
Anchovy sauce: Adds a salty, savoury depth that seasons the fish.