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Sole-fillets, Gratin Of, with Oysters

A baked gratin of sole fillets topped with oysters, breadcrumbs, butter, and lemon juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Sole-fillets, Gratin Of, with Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Butter a baking dish and layer the sole fillets.

  3. Remove the gills from the oysters and place them on top of the fillets.

Bake and serve

  1. Sprinkle breadcrumbs, coarse sea salt, and black pepper over the dish.

  2. Drizzle with melted butter and lemon juice.

  3. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

  4. Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Sole fillets
Forms the main body of the gratin and cooks into tender, flaky layers.
Oysters
Add briny, savoury flavour and moisture as they cook over the fish.
Butter
Carries flavour and helps the breadcrumbs brown in the oven.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on top of the dish.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and seafood.

The step that matters

Bake until golden brown. Sole is delicate and dries out quickly in heat, so watching for the crust to turn golden at about 20 minutes helps keep the fish moist while the top browns.

“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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