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Baked Fish

A baked fish layered with breadcrumbs, butter, herbs, and lemon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 ↓

Baked Fish

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the fish

  1. Split open the fish.

  2. Remove the head and backbone.

  3. Wash the fish well in cold water.

  4. Dry the fish with a cloth.

Make the seasoning

  1. Chop the parsley, herbs, and suet.

  2. Mix the chopped parsley, herbs, and suet with half the bread crumbs, lemon zest, pepper, and salt.

Layer and bake

  1. Butter a baking dish.

  2. Lay one fish skin side down in the dish.

  3. Add a layer of the seasoning mixture, a little lemon juice, and a few pieces of butter on top.

  4. Place another fish on top with the cut side facing the seasoning.

  5. Repeat the layering process.

  6. Finish with the remaining bread crumbs and butter on top.

  7. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  8. Transfer the fish to a hot dish.

  9. Serve.

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

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

  5. Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the main body of the dish and cooks through in the oven.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and add a light crumbly texture to the seasoning and topping.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich during baking.
Butter
Adds fat that promotes richness and gentle browning on the top layer.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the rich seasoning.

“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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