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Broiled Fish

A fish grilled with pepper and butter, smoked with corn cobs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Broiled Fish

Why it works: Pepper and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Broiled Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and drain the fish.

  2. Sprinkle the fish with pepper and place it inside down on the grill.

Broil

  1. Broil over fresh, bright coals.

  2. When browned, turn the fish for a moment on the other side.

  3. For added flavor, place 2 or 3 corn cobs under the grill to create smoke.

Serve

  1. Spread butter on the fish before serving.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + corntop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Fish + corntop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together70 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Fish + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fish
Forms the dish; its proteins set and firm as it cooks over the coals.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, softening the fish's smoky, charred surface with moisture.
Corn cobs
Produce smoke as they burn under the grill, adding a smoky aroma to the fish.

The step that matters

Turning the fish. Once the surface has browned, the proteins have set enough to hold together. Turning it only briefly, once, keeps the delicate flesh from tearing or breaking apart on the grill.

“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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