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John Dory

A lightly seasoned John Dory fish simmered in salted water and served with lemon, parsley, and sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley 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 ↓

John Dory

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the John Dory thoroughly.

  2. Cut off the fins, leaving the head intact.

Poach

  1. Place the fish in a fish kettle and cover with warm water.

  2. Add salt to taste and bring the water gradually to near boiling point.

  3. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, or longer if the fish is very large.

Serve

  1. Serve on a hot napkin, garnished with cut lemon and parsley.

  2. Accompany with lobster, anchovy, or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter.

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. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Lobster + anchovytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together470 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  4. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together637 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

John dory fish
Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently in simmering water until flaky.
Lobster sauce
Adds rich, savoury flavour to the mild fish as an accompaniment.
Anchovy sauce
Adds salty, savoury depth that complements the mild white fish.
Shrimp sauce
Adds a sweet, savoury seafood flavour to the mild fish.
Plain melted butter
Adds richness and moisture to each bite of the lean fish.

The step that matters

Bring the water gradually to near boiling and simmer gently. Gentle heat cooks the fish evenly and keeps its flesh moist and tender. Vigorous boiling can toughen and break the delicate flesh apart.

“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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