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Planked Fish

Fish cooked on an oiled oak plank with butter, salt, paprika, and topped with tomato and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Planked Fish

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Rub an oak plank with oil and reserve the oiled plank for fish only.

  2. Clean and split the fish, then wipe it dry.

  3. Place the fish skin side down on the plank.

  4. Dot the fish with butter and sprinkle it with salt and paprika.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the fish under a gas jet for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

  2. Prepare the tomatoes by slicing them into 1-inch thick rounds and layer them in a shallow pan.

  3. Top the tomato layer with grated cheese, salt, and paprika, then add bits of butter on top of the tomatoes.

  4. Broil the tomatoes for about 5 minutes.

  5. Remove the fish from the oven and garnish it with the broiled tomatoes around the plank.

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. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Tomato + cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,896 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Fish + tomatotop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together213 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hepten-3-one (metal).

  5. Fish + cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together135 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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 and cooks through under direct heat.
Butter
Adds moisture and richness as it melts over the fish and tomatoes.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and gentle acidity that balances the rich cheese and butter.
American cheese
Melts and browns under the broiler, adding richness and a savory top layer.

The step that matters

Broiling the fish under a gas jet. Fish can dry out or overcook during long direct heat, and the thickest part may stay underdone while the surface browns. Checking for flaky, opaque flesh at the thickest point helps prevent both problems.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, cheese):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Tomatothe original
  3. Onionfits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, cheese. 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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