Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Boiled Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Clean the fish thoroughly.
Place the fish in a fish kettle and submerge in a pot of boiling salted water.
Boil for 20 minutes.
Make the spiced vinegar
In a separate pot, combine vinegar, cloves, allspice, and pepper; boil for 15 minutes.
Pickle and serve
Once cooled, pour the vinegar mixture over the fish.
Let the fish sit for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
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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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,548 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Is the main protein that gets poached in boiling salted water until cooked through.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the fish once it is pickled.
- Whole cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling liquid.
- Whole allspice
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the pickling liquid.
- Whole pepper
- Adds pungent spice flavor to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Cool the vinegar mixture before pouring it over the fish. Pouring hot liquid onto cooked fish would keep cooking it and make the flesh break apart and turn tough. Letting the spiced vinegar cool first keeps the fish firm and moist while it absorbs flavor.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, vinegar, allspice, pepper):
- Clovethe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Marjoramfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, vinegar, allspice, pepper. 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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