Why it works: Turbot and leek work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 12 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare and poach the turbot
Wash and dry the turbot.
In a stewpan, add thyme, parsley, fine herbs, and sliced onion.
Place the fish on top and sprinkle with herbs, leeks, and basil.
Pour in equal parts white wine and vinegar to cover the fish.
Sprinkle with grey salt and coarse pepper.
Cook the turbot over moderate heat until done, then remove from heat but leave in the saucepan.
Make the sauce
In another saucepan, melt butter and add anchovies, capers, leeks, pepper, salt, nutmeg, flour, vinegar, and water.
Cook these ingredients over heat, then warm the fish again.
Serve
Serve the fish with sauce poured over it and horseradish on the side.
Serve remaining sauce in a separate dish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Turbot + leektop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Thyme + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + leektop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together360 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turbot
- Forms the main dish; its delicate white flesh becomes flaky and tender when gently poached.
- Butter
- Melts into the sauce to make it rich, smooth and silky.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and liquid so the sauce clings to the fish.
- Anchovies
- Add savory depth and salty richness to the sauce.
- Capers
- Add sharp acidity that cuts through the richness of the butter.
- Leeks
- Add mild sweetness and soft texture to the sauce.
The step that matters
Cooking the turbot over moderate heat until done. Moderate heat keeps the delicate fish moist and flaky; overcooking squeezes out moisture and leaves the flesh dry and tough. Leaving it in the hot liquid off the heat lets it finish gently and stay tender.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turbot, thyme, parsley, white wine, vinegar, pepper, butter):
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against turbot, thyme, parsley, white wine, vinegar, pepper, butter. 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).
“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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