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 ↓
Broiled Shad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean and split the shad in half.
Cook and serve
Cook over a clear fire for about 15 minutes.
Turn carefully to avoid breaking the fish and brown on both sides.
Serve with parsley sauce and slices of lemon.
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 + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + saucetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,693 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + lemontop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,598 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
- Shad
- The main component; its flesh firms and browns over direct heat.
- Parsley sauce
- Adds moisture and fresh herbal flavour alongside the cooked fish.
The step that matters
Turn carefully to avoid breaking the fish. As the flesh cooks, its proteins set and firm, but it stays fragile until then. Turning too early or roughly tears the fish apart, so wait until it releases easily from the grate before flipping.
“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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