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Brill with Fine-herbs

A baked brill fillet topped with shallots, onions, mushrooms, brown sauce, white wine, fine herbs, breadcrumbs, and melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Brill with Fine-herbs

Oven, in the book's wordsA slack oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slack oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dish

  1. Split the brill along its back down the length of the principal bone.

  2. Butter the bottom of a gratin dish.

  3. Sprinkle chopped shallots, onions, and mushrooms in the dish.

  4. Moisten the mixture with brown sauce and white wine.

  5. Place the brill in the dish with the black side down.

  6. Season with salt, sprinkle with fine herbs and bread crumbs.

  7. Pour melted butter on top.

Bake and serve

  1. Set the dish on the fire until it bubbles.

  2. Transfer to a 300°F (150°C) oven.

  3. Bake gently for 30 minutes.

  4. Baste with the cooking stock.

  5. Serve the fish on the same dish.

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.

  1. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  3. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Shallot + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Brill
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently to become flaky and tender.
Shallots
Add a mild aromatic sweetness that flavors the sauce as it cooks.
Mushrooms
Release moisture and savory flavor into the mixture during baking.
Brown sauce
Provides moisture and a rich, savory body that keeps the fish from drying out.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma, helping to moisten and brighten the mixture.
Bread crumbs
Form a golden crust on top through browning in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake gently for 30 minutes. Low, steady oven heat cooks the delicate fish through without toughening its proteins. Basting with the cooking stock keeps the surface moist while the crumbs brown.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, mushroom, sauce, white wine, bread, butter):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, mushroom, sauce, white wine, bread, 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.

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