Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Broiled Shad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the shad by cleaning it thoroughly.
Preheat a long griddle until very hot.
Grease the griddle with butter.
Broil and serve
Place the shad on the griddle and broil until well done, turning frequently.
Brown the fish nicely, occasionally basting with butter.
Serve the fish on a hot dish garnished with parsley and sliced lemon.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shad
- The main fish, which is cooked through and browned on the griddle.
- Butter
- Greases the griddle and basting adds fat that helps the fish brown and stay moist.
The step that matters
Brown the fish nicely, occasionally basting with butter. Basting with butter adds fat to the surface, which encourages even browning and keeps the exposed flesh from drying out during the long, high-heat cooking.
“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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