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Codfish Croquettes

Codfish croquettes are fried balls of mashed potatoes, codfish, butter, cream, pepper, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Codfish Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Melt the butter in the mashed potatoes.

  2. Add the codfish, pepper, and cream and mix thoroughly.

  3. Form the mixture into round or oval balls.

Coat the balls

  1. Roll the balls in the beaten egg.

  2. Roll the balls in fine bread crumbs.

  3. Place the balls in a frying basket.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat the lard and test its heat with a bit of bread.

  2. Fry the croquettes until golden brown.

  3. Lift the basket and let the croquettes drip for a moment before serving.

  4. If there's a delay, keep them warm in the oven.

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

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  5. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provides the bulk and soft body that holds the croquettes together.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the mixture a softer, more tender texture.
Codfish
Supplies the main flavour and firm flakes within the soft potato mixture.
Cream or rich milk
Adds moisture and richness so the mixture stays soft and creamy.
Egg
Acts as a binder and helps the bread crumb coating adhere during frying.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden-brown outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Testing the lard's heat before frying. If the lard is not hot enough, the croquettes absorb excess fat and turn greasy and pale; if too hot, the crumb coating browns before the interior heats through. A bit of bread shows whether the fat is ready.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream, pepper, egg, bread):

  1. Asparagusfits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream, pepper, egg, bread. 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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