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Mackerel Boiled with Parsley Sauce

Boiled mackerel served with parsley sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Fish and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,341 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mackerel Boiled with Parsley Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the roe from the mackerel and wash the fish.

  2. Place the mackerel in a fish kettle and cover with hot water.

  3. Add salt to taste and bring the water to near boiling.

Cook and serve

  1. Remove the kettle from heat and cook gently for about 10 minutes.

  2. Check for doneness; the skin should be loose from the flesh.

  3. Drain the mackerel, place on a hot dish, and pour a little parsley sauce over them.

  4. Serve the remaining parsley sauce separately.

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. Fish + parsleytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Fish + saucetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,487 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Parsley + saucetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,693 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Mackerel
Forms the main protein of the dish, becoming flaky and tender when gently cooked.
Parsley sauce
Adds moisture and a fresh herbal flavour that complements the mild fish.

The step that matters

Cooking gently after removing from heat. Keeping the water just below boiling and cooking gently prevents the fish from toughening and breaking apart, so the flesh stays tender while the skin loosens.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, sauce):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, sauce. 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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