Name: To Pot Trout or Grilse
Ingredients: 1 ounce cloves, finely ground; ½ ounce Jamaica pepper, finely ground; ¼ ounce black pepper, finely ground; ¼ ounce cayenne pepper, finely ground; 2 nutmegs, finely grated; a little mace, finely ground; 2 teaspoons ginger, finely ground; the weight of the spices in coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); clarified butter

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Pot Trout or Grilse

Ingredients

1 ounce cloves, finely ground
½ ounce Jamaica pepper, finely ground
¼ ounce black pepper, finely ground
¼ ounce cayenne pepper, finely ground
2 nutmegs, finely grated
a little mace, finely ground
2 teaspoons ginger, finely ground
the weight of the spices in coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
clarified butter

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the spice mix

Mix together the spices and the same weight of coarse sea salt, plus half as much again.
Clean the fish and remove the heads, fins, and tails.

Bake the fish

Place a teaspoon of the spice mixture into each fish and lay them in a deep earthen jar, backside down.
Cover the fish with clarified butter and tie a paper over the jar's mouth.
Bake slowly at 300°F (150°C) for eight hours until the backbone is tender.

Press and pot

Remove the fish from the jar and place them in a milk pan, backside up.
Cover with a board and place a heavy weight on top.
Once cold, transfer the fish to fresh jars, smooth with a knife, 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.

Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,557 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,324 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Cloves: Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour that penetrates the fish during long slow cooking.
Nutmeg: Contributes warm, aromatic flavour that complements the fish and spices.
Black pepper: Adds sharp heat and pungency to the spiced fish.
Cayenne pepper: Adds hot, pungent heat that balances the richness of the butter.
Coarse sea salt: Draws moisture from the fish and seasons it, helping the spices cling and preserve the flesh.
Clarified butter: Seals the fish from air and adds richness and moisture during slow baking.

The step that matters

Slow baking for eight hours. Long, low heat gradually breaks down the fish's connective tissue and bones so the backbone turns tender without drying the flesh. Too high a heat would toughen or scorch it.

Swap the mace

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

Cinnamonfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, butter. 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.

Tomato Soup526 recipes

Brown Bread461 recipes

Mutton Broth292 recipes

Yorkshire Pudding264 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The 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.

To Pot Trout or Grilse