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Sturgeon Steaks

Sturgeon steaks seasoned with salt, cayenne, and herbs, then broiled or breaded and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Sturgeon Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the skin from the sturgeon and cut slices half an inch thick.

  2. Rub the slices well with coarse sea salt.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the slices over a clear fire of bright coals.

  2. Butter the slices, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and serve hot garnished with lemon slices.

  3. Alternatively, dip the slices in a beaten egg, then cover with a mixture of bread crumbs, sweet herbs, black pepper, and salt.

  4. Wrap the slices in well-buttered white paper and broil over a clear fire.

  5. Serve with or without the paper.

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. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Sturgeon + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together237 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Sturgeon
Firm, meaty fish that holds its shape over direct heat when cut into thick slices.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the slices stay tender and brown lightly.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden coating on the slices when used as the alternative method.
Beaten egg (in the method)
Binds the bread crumb coating to the fish so it adheres during cooking.

The step that matters

Broil over a clear fire of bright coals. Fish is lean and cooks quickly, so steady, even heat matters. Clear bright coals give consistent heat without smoke or flare-ups that could scorch the surface before the centre is cooked.

“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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