Why it works: Fennel and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 625 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Roe Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the roes
Boil the roes of the mackerel until cooked.
Remove all skin and mash the roes with the back of a spoon.
Make the sauce
In a bowl, beat the egg yolk with pepper, salt, fennel, and parsley.
Combine the mashed roes with the egg mixture.
Stir in the melted butter until well mixed.
If desired, add catsup, essence of anchovy, or walnut pickle.
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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Fennel + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together625 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Roe + anchovytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together65 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Pepper + fenneltop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,216 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mackerel roes
- Provide the main flavour and body of the sauce once mashed.
- Egg yolk
- Helps bind the mashed roes and butter into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, silky texture.
The step that matters
Stir in the melted butter until well mixed. Butter is fat that must be incorporated gradually into the egg and roe mixture so the sauce emulsifies smoothly. Adding it too quickly or while it is too hot can cause the sauce to separate or turn greasy.
Swap the fennel
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (roe, egg, pepper, parsley, butter, anchovy):
- Capersfits better
- Thymefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Fennelthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against roe, egg, pepper, parsley, butter, anchovy. 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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