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
Sprinkle the fish lightly with coarse sea salt and stuff with your preferred dressing.
Wrap the fish with string to keep the stuffing in place.
Place a piece of perforated tin in the bottom of a baking pan to prevent sticking.
Put the fish on the tin and pour in 1 pint of water.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup if using.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour, basting often without turning the fish.
Make the sauce and serve
Once done, remove the fish to a serving dish.
Thicken the pan juices with a little flour, add salt to taste, and a bit of butter.
Pour the sauce over the fish and 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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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).
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Tomato + buttertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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
- Whole fish
- Forms the main body of the dish and cooks gently in the steamy liquid.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan juices into a smooth sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness, acidity and color to the pan liquid.
The step that matters
Basting without turning the fish. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist so it does not dry out over the hour-long bake, while leaving the fish unturned protects the stuffing and the delicate skin from breaking apart.
Swap the tomato
The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, ketchup, flour, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, 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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