Why it works: Spinach and haddock work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 41 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
6 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the thinly sliced onion, and cook about 5 minutes until soft.
Stir in the squeezed-dry spinach, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook 3 minutes until hot. Spread the spinach mixture evenly in a baking dish.
In a small saucepan, melt the second 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add the minced onion and cook 2 minutes until soft.
Whisk the cornstarch into the reserved tomato juices until smooth, then add to the saucepan with the diced tomatoes, dried thyme and dried tarragon. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes until slightly thickened.
Arrange the haddock fillets over the spinach in the baking dish and pour the tomato sauce over the fish.
Bake 20 minutes, or until the thickest part of the fish reaches 145°F (63°C) and the flesh is opaque and flakes easily. Serve hot.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Spinach + haddocktop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + thymetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,370 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Nutmeg + thymetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,907 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Spinach + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,350 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Onion + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20,622 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
Flavor stand-ins for the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, spinach, nutmeg, haddock, tomato, thyme):
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Avocadobetter flavor fit
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, spinach, nutmeg, haddock, tomato, thyme. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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