Why it works: Fish and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,487 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Dory, Caper-sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Prepare the dory by cleaning and gutting it.
Cook and serve
Cook the dory in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.
Serve with caper sauce drizzled over the top.
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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Fish + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,487 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dory fish
- Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
- Caper sauce
- Adds a tangy, briny flavour that contrasts with the mild, rich fish.
The step that matters
Cooking the dory until done. Fish cooks quickly and becomes dry and tough if overcooked. It is done when the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
“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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