Why it works: Fish and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,488 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
To Bake Fish
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fish
Sprinkle the fish lightly with salt.
Stuff the fish with dressing.
Tie the fish with string to hold the dressing inside.
Place perforated tin with turned edges in the bottom of a baking pan.
Put the fish on the tin to prevent sticking.
Bake
Pour 1 pint of water into the pan.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup if using.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour, basting often.
Do not turn the fish.
Make the gravy and serve
Remove the fish to a hot dish.
Thicken the gravy with a little flour.
Add salt to taste and a bit of butter.
Pour the gravy over the fish.
Serve hot.
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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Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Ketchup + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Fish + tomatotop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together213 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hepten-3-one (metal).
Flour and butter 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
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through as the centerpiece of the bake.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan liquid into a gravy, giving it body and a smooth texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the finished gravy, improving flavor and mouthfeel.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity to the pan liquid, deepening the gravy's flavor.
The step that matters
Do not turn the fish. Turning a whole fish can break its skin and flesh apart. Leaving it undisturbed while it bakes keeps it intact and lets it cook evenly in the liquid.
Swap the tomato
The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, turkey, ketchup, flour, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, turkey, ketchup, flour, butter. 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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