Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Cod Steaks a LA Cardinal
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
Wash and wipe the cod slices, place them in a baking dish, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Top the fish with 4 tablespoons of butter in small pieces, cover with greased paper, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
Make the sauce
While the fish is cooking, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, then add the milk and bring to a boil.
Pass the tomatoes through a sieve and add the purée to the saucepan.
Once the fish is done, transfer it to a hot dish, strain the cooking liquid, and add it to the sauce.
Season the sauce to taste, add carmine or cochineal until a bright red color is achieved, and pour it over the fish.
Serve
Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently in the oven with butter.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and enriches the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and butter into a smooth sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base of the sauce.
- Tomatoes
- Add acidity, color and body to the sauce through their purée.
The step that matters
Adding the flour to the melted butter. Stirring flour into melted butter forms a roux; cooking it briefly before adding the milk prevents lumps and a raw floury taste, giving a smooth sauce.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, parsley, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, parsley, pepper. 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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