Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Cod, Curried
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Wash and dry the cod.
Cut the cod into pieces about 4 inches square.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Lightly fry the cod.
Remove the cod and set aside.
Make the curry sauce
Add the sliced onion, flour, and curry powder to the butter in the saucepan.
Fry for 15 minutes, stirring continuously.
Pour in the stock and stir until it boils.
Simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Strain the sauce.
Return the strained sauce to the saucepan.
Add lemon juice and seasoning to taste.
Bring the sauce nearly to boiling point.
Combine and serve
Add the fish.
Cover the pot.
Let it sit for about 1 hour to blend the flavors.
Stir occasionally to prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
Serve with rice.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Cod
- Forms the main body of the dish, flaking gently in the warm sauce.
- Butter
- Carries the curry spices and adds richness to the sauce base.
- Flour
- Thickens the stock into a smooth, lightly bodied sauce.
- Curry powder
- Provides the warm, aromatic spice flavor that defines the dish.
- Onion
- Softens into the sauce, adding sweetness and savory depth.
- White stock
- Supplies the liquid base that the flour thickens into the sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring the sauce while the fish sits. Fish sticks and breaks apart when left unstirred in a pan over heat. Occasional gentle stirring keeps the pieces intact and prevents scorching on the bottom of the saucepan.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, flour, pepper, lemon):
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, flour, pepper, lemon. 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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