Why it works: Turbot and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 248 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Turbot Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fish
Flake the boiled fish with a spoon, being careful not to cut it.
Stir the cream sauce, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice into the fish flakes.
Place the mixture in a shallow fireproof dish.
Top and bake
Soak the breadcrumbs in melted butter and sprinkle them over the fish mixture.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.
If not browned, use a salamander to achieve the desired color.
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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Turbot + saucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together248 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Turbot + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together127 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turbot
- Provides the main body of flaked white fish that forms the dish.
- Cream sauce
- Adds moisture and a creamy texture that keeps the fish from drying out.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savory flavor and helps the surface brown during baking.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich sauce and fish.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, golden topping when coated in butter and baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat that helps the breadcrumbs brown and taste rich.
The step that matters
Browning the breadcrumb topping. Breadcrumbs coated in melted butter brown through Maillard browning and dry heat. If the top is pale after baking, the salamander finishes the surface, but overheating can scorch the crumbs before the fish beneath is hot.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turbot, cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, butter):
- Coconutfits about as well
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Bananafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against turbot, cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, butter. 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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