Why it works: Pork and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,371 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
To Frt Coo or Other Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fat
Heat the lard or dripping in a pan until clear and hot, but not smoking.
Skim the fat before adding the fish.
Fry the cod
Rub the cod slices with Indian meal to prevent breaking.
Fry the cod slices thoroughly.
Coat and fry the trout and perch
Dip trout and perch in the white of an egg and coat with bread crumbs or dust with flour.
Fry the trout and perch.
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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Pork + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,371 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Pork + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,387 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lard or dripping
- Hot fat conducts heat evenly and browns the outside of the fish as it fries.
- Cod
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through until it flakes.
- Indian meal
- Dusted on the cod slices to help them hold together while frying.
- White of an egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs or flour stick to the fish.
- Bread crumbs or flour
- Forms a crisp, golden coating on the outside of the fish.
The step that matters
Heat the fat until hot but not smoking. Fat that is too cool lets the fish soak up grease and turn soggy, while smoking fat burns, turning the coating dark and bitter.
“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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