Why it works: Tarragon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,563 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Baked or Broiled Trout
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the trout
Wash the trout and dry it thoroughly.
Dredge the fish with baked flour.
Melt the butter until creamy and dip the fish in it; let it stand for 10 minutes.
Dredge the fish with flour again and dip it a second time in the butter.
Cook and serve
Place the fish on a baking dish and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes, longer if the fish is larger.
Alternatively, broil the fish on a gridiron over a bright fire for the same time.
Serve the fish on a hot dish, garnished with parsley or chervil.
Make the sauce
For the sauce, peel and slice the cucumber, sprinkle with salt, and let it sit for 2 hours.
Drain the cucumber, chop it finely with spring onions, and mix with Lucca oil and tarragon vinegar.
Place the sauce around the fish.
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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Tarragon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,563 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cucumber + tarragontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together274 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cucumber + parsleytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,564 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Trout
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently in butter and flour.
- Baked flour
- Forms a dry coating that helps the butter cling and gives the fish a light golden crust.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the coating brown during cooking.
- Cucumber
- Salting draws out water, giving the sauce a crisp, refreshing texture.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the rich fish.
The step that matters
Dredging and dipping the fish in butter. Coating the fish in flour and then butter, with a rest in between, helps the coating stick and form a crust. Skipping the second coat can leave the surface pale and the coating patchy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, cucumber, tarragon, vinegar, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Lettucefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, cucumber, tarragon, vinegar, parsley. 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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