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 ↓
Broiled Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Split the fish down the back and remove the head and tail.
For thick fish, cut into 1-inch slices and remove skin and bone.
Oily fish need only salt and pepper.
Spread soft butter on dry, white fish.
Grease a double wire broiler with salt pork rind.
Broil
Place the thickest edge of the fish in the middle of the broiler and broil flesh side first until brown, lifting often to prevent burning.
Cook the other side just enough to crisp the skin.
The fish is done when it looks white and firm, separating easily from the bone.
Serve
Loosen the fish from the broiler.
Slide it off or invert onto a platter.
Season with butter, salt, pepper, and lemon juice if desired.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Fish + salmontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,078 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Fish + porktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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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 + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the flesh that turns white and firm when cooked through.
- Soft butter
- Adds richness and moisture to dry white fish, helping it brown and resist drying.
The step that matters
Broiling flesh side first until brown, lifting often. Fish is lean and cooks quickly under intense heat, so it can burn or dry out before it is cooked through. Lifting the broiler often and watching the thick edge helps it cook evenly while the flesh browns and sets.
“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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