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Broiled Halibut

A halibut steak is broiled, buttered, seasoned, and garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Broiled Halibut

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the halibut steak quickly and dry it with a towel.

Broil

  1. Place it on a broiler and broil over a clear fire for 10 minutes until browned on one side.

  2. Turn the steak and broil the other side until done.

Finish and serve

  1. Transfer to a hot dish, spread with butter, and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

  2. Garnish with parsley and serve.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Halibut steak
Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, coating the fish as it finishes.

The step that matters

Turning the steak. Turning too early or too late leaves one side pale or the centre undercooked. Browning the first side until set lets the steak hold its shape when flipped, so the second side cooks evenly.

“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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