Why it works: Tomato and haddock work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 128 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Warm a splash of olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat.
Add the sliced garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant but not browned.
Add the chopped tomatoes, olives and rinsed capers. Simmer gently for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Nestle the haddock fillets into the sauce in a single layer, spooning some of the sauce over the top of each fillet.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the fish is opaque, flakes easily and reaches 145°F (63°C) in the thickest part.
Rest for 2 minutes, scatter the torn basil over the fish and serve hot with the tomato sauce spooned around it.
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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Tomato + haddocktop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together128 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Tomato + basiltop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,979 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,075 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the capers
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, tomato, haddock, basil):
- Oreganobetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Corianderbetter flavor fit
- Capersthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, tomato, haddock, basil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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