Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Turbot with Bechamel-Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
If using raw turbot, boil it in salted water until cooked.
If using cooked turbot, warm it in its own cooking stock.
Ensure the turbot is warm and well drained.
While the turbot is cooking, prepare a bechamel sauce.
Make the sauce and serve
Reduce the bechamel sauce while mixing in the liquor from fresh mushrooms and raw cream until it is succulent and consistent.
Remove the sauce from heat and serve over the turbot.
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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Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together248 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together127 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Mushroom + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,500 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Sauce + mushroomtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,480 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
- Turbot
- Forms the main body of the dish, providing the flesh that the sauce is served over.
- Bechamel sauce
- Adds a creamy, rich coating that gives moisture and a smooth texture to the fish.
- Raw cream
- Adds fat and richness, helping the sauce become smooth and succulent when reduced.
- Mushroom liquor
- Adds savoury, earthy flavour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Reduce the bechamel sauce while mixing in the liquor and cream. Reducing gently while stirring keeps the sauce smooth and consistent. If it boils too hard or is not stirred, the cream can separate or the sauce can become grainy or too thick.
“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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