Why it works: Haddock and butter work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 764 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Finnan Haddie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and poach
Cut a piece of Finnan haddie to the desired size.
Place it in a frying pan and cover with boiling water.
Boil for 5 minutes.
Finish and serve
Drain the water and add a lump of butter.
Once the butter melts and coats the fish, serve.
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.
-
Haddock + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together764 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Finnan haddie
- Smoked haddock forms the main body of the dish, with flaky, delicate texture when gently poached.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and coats the fish with a smooth, moist finish.
The step that matters
Boil for 5 minutes. Fish proteins set as they heat, and holding them at a boil for too long makes the flesh firm, dry and tough. Keep the boil timed so the fish is just cooked through.
“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.
More finnan haddie recipes
You might also like
Boiled Haddock10 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.