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
Clean the John Dory thoroughly and cut off the fins, leaving the head intact.
Place the fish in a fish kettle and cover it with warm water.
Add coarse sea salt to taste.
Poach
Gradually bring the water to near boiling point and simmer gently for 15 minutes, or longer if the fish is very large.
Serve
Serve the fish on a hot napkin, garnished with cut lemon and parsley.
Accompany with lobster, anchovy, or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter.
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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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lobster + anchovytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together470 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- The main ingredient, whose firm flesh turns flaky when gently poached in water.
- Plain melted butter
- Adds richness and fat to the mild flavour of the served fish.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, do not boil hard. Bringing the water to a vigorous boil agitates the fish and can break up and toughen the delicate flesh. A gentle simmer cooks it evenly while keeping it moist and intact.
“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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