Why it works: Roe and oyster work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 58 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Baked Shad
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Clean and prepare the shad, salting it lightly inside and out.
Fill the shad with oyster filling or your preferred dressing.
Sew up the slit and place the fish in a dripping pan.
Bake and serve
Generously butter the fish and add a little water.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes, or until thoroughly browned.
Carefully lift the fish onto a dish, remove the stitches, and serve hot with your choice of fish sauce.
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.
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Roe + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together58 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Roe + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together442 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Roe shad
- Is the main fish, cooked whole so the filling and skin bake together.
- Oyster filling
- Adds moisture and savory flavor inside the fish as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat that promotes browning and a rich, tender surface on the fish.
The step that matters
Bake until thoroughly browned. Baking at a moderate oven heat for the stated time cooks the fish through while browning the surface. Stopping early can leave the thick center undercooked, while overbaking dries the flesh.
“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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