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Broiled Mackerel

A simple broiled mackerel seasoned with pepper, salt, and butter, garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Broiled Mackerel

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wipe the split mackerel with a dry cloth and sprinkle lightly with pepper and salt.

  2. Hang the fish in a cool, airy place until the next morning, keeping them open.

Cook and serve

  1. Dissolve ½ ounce of butter or bacon fat for each fish.

  2. Pass the mackerel through the fat on both sides.

  3. Place the fish on a grill over low heat, turning frequently and basting with butter.

  4. When the fish is last turned, sprinkle finely chopped parsley on top and serve hot.

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.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Mackerel
Forms the main body of the dish, carrying the flavour and texture of the fish.
Butter or bacon fat
Adds moisture and richness, and helps the fish brown and stay juicy on the grill.

The step that matters

Grilling over low heat with frequent turning and basting. Low heat cooks the fish through gently without scorching the surface, while frequent basting with fat keeps the flesh moist and promotes even browning.

“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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