Name: Klosse of Boiled Fish
Ingredients: fish, skin and bones removed; 2 tablespoons butter; coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon white pepper; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 teaspoon grated ginger; as much grated bread as fish; 1-2 eggs

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Klosse of Boiled Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dumpling mixture

Pound the fish in a mortar or mince it finely.
Mix in butter, salt, white pepper, parsley, ginger, grated bread, and eggs to bind the mixture.

Cook and serve

Gently place the mixture into boiling salted water.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with oiled butter and crispy breadcrumbs poured over.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,668 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Parsley + gingertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together676 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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 dumpling and gives it its flavour.
Grated bread: Absorbs moisture and helps the dumpling hold a softer, lighter texture.
Eggs: Bind the mixture so the dumplings hold their shape while cooking.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, contributing flavour and a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Placing the mixture into the water. Gently lowering the delicate mixture into simmering, not violently boiling, water keeps the dumplings from breaking apart while the eggs set the binding.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, parsley, ginger, bread, egg):

Nutmegfits better
Capersfits better
Thymefits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, parsley, ginger, bread, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Brown Bread461 recipes

Fried Fish120 recipes

Fish Croquettes81 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

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Klosse of Boiled Fish