Name: Fried Whiting
Ingredients: whiting fish; flour; salt; pepper; oil for frying

Why it works: Whiting and fish work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 317 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Fried Whiting

Ingredients

Directions

Clean and gut the whiting fish.
Season the fish with salt and pepper.
Dredge the fish in flour, coating evenly.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Fry the fish until golden brown on both sides.
Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

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.

Whiting + fishtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together317 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Whiting + flourtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together303 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,948 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Fish + flourtop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,532 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).