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Fish. Turbot to Boil.

A whole turbot boiled in salted spring water, then garnished with red coral spawn, parsley, lemon, horseradish, and optional fried smelts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Fish. Turbot to Boil.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean and wash the turbot thoroughly.

  2. Rub the fish lightly with salt and keep it in a cold place for a couple of days.

  3. Soak the fish in spring water with some salt for 1-2 hours before cooking.

  4. Score the skin across the thickest part of the back to prevent it from breaking.

Boil and serve

  1. In a fish kettle, add a large handful of salt and cold water, then place the fish on a fish strainer.

  2. Bring the water to a boil, skimming off any foam.

  3. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.

  4. Once cooked, rub the red coral spawn through a fine sieve and sprinkle it over the fish.

  5. Garnish with sprigs of parsley, lemon slices, and horseradish.

  6. For a full presentation, surround the fish with nicely fried smelts.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Turbot + smelttop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together26 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Turbot + lobstertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  4. Parsley + horseradishtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together562 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Lemon + horseradishtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,155 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turbot
Is the main fish, cooked whole so its firm flesh holds together in simmering water.
Salt
Seasons the fish through the curing and soaking, and firms the flesh before boiling.
Red coral spawn from a lobster
Adds a rich, briny flavour and bright colour when pressed over the cooked fish.

The step that matters

Simmer gently after boiling. Once the water reaches a boil, lowering the heat to a gentle simmer keeps the delicate flesh tender and intact. A hard boil can break the skin and dry or toughen the fish.

“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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