Name: To Pot Mackerel, Gurnards, Basse, Mullet, Etc.
Ingredients: Mackerel, Gurnards, Basse, Mullet (or other firm fish); Clarified butter; Coarse sea salt; Cayenne pepper; Allspice; Grated nutmeg; Black pepper; Sage (rubbed fine)

Why it works: Allspice and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,331 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Pot Mackerel, Gurnards, Basse, Mullet, Etc.

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Split the fish and remove the backbone. Cut large fish into four parts and small fish into two.
Season the fish like trout and char.
Place the fish in a baking dish and cover with clarified butter. Cover the dish with paper.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about two hours.
Allow the fish to cool, then press between two baking dishes, draining off the gravy.
Place the fish in pots and cover with clarified butter.

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.

Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,331 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + sagetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together331 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Nutmeg + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together642 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, pepper, allspice, nutmeg):

Cinnamonfits better
Clovefits better
Thymefits better
Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, pepper, allspice, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.