Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,047 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Fillets of Sole with Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare and cook
Season the sole fillets with salt and pepper.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Cook the fillets for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Finish and serve
Drizzle with lemon juice before serving.
Serve with tartar 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Pepper + saucetop 27% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,338 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sole fillets
- Provide the main delicate white flesh that turns opaque and flakes when cooked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the fillets brown in the hot skillet.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and mild fish.
The step that matters
Cook the fillets for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Sole is thin and delicate, so it can overcook quickly and dry out or break apart. Medium heat gives the surface time to brown without burning the butter, and fish is done when its flesh turns opaque and flakes easily.
“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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