Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Finnan Haddie
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the Finnan haddie thoroughly and soak it in cold water for 30 minutes.
Then, soak it in very hot water for 5 minutes.
Wipe the fish dry, rub it with butter and lemon juice, and broil for 15 minutes.
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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Finnan haddie
- The main ingredient; smoked fish that gives the dish its smoky flavour and flaky texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the surface brown under the broiler.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the smoky flavour of the fish.
The step that matters
Soaking the fish. Smoked, cured fish is salty, and soaking in cold then hot water draws out some of that salt and softens the flesh. Skipping or shortening the soak can leave the finished fish too salty.
“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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