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Fish Pudding

A steamed fish pudding made with fish, eggs, bread crumbs, butter, milk, flour, parsley, and potatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fish Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Mix and steam the fish

  1. Drain the juice from the salmon.

  2. Break up the salmon finely.

  3. Discard the bones.

  4. Add two eggs beaten lightly.

  5. Add one half cup bread crumbs, a little cayenne, and salt to taste.

  6. Add one teaspoon melted butter.

  7. Put the mixture in a mold and steam for one hour.

  8. When ready, serve with sauce.

Make the sauce

  1. Thicken one cup of milk with one tablespoon flour mixed with one tablespoon butter.

  2. Add one beaten egg.

  3. Add salt and pepper.

  4. Add salmon juice to make pink color.

  5. Garnish with lemon.

Cook the fish cakes

  1. Soak one pound fish overnight in cold water.

  2. Cook the fish until tender.

  3. Boil six good sized potatoes.

  4. Shred the fish.

  5. Add the potatoes, one clove, a little garlic, one bunch parsley chopped fine, one small teaspoon of lard, salt, and pepper, and mix thoroughly.

  6. Put one tablespoon each of butter, flour, and olive oil in a deep frying pan.

  7. When the pan is hot, put the mixture in and brown lightly.

  8. Serve in a roll as an omelet.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1288Calories
52 gProtein
53 gFat
149 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Salmon100g cooked208
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

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. Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  4. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Bread + fishtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the fish mixture and set into a firm, sliceable texture when heated.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the fish mixture body so it holds together.
Fish
Provides the main protein, which firms as it cooks and gives the dish its flavor.
Potatoes
Add starch and bulk, helping bind the fish and create a soft, tender texture.
Flour
Thickens the milk sauce by swelling its starch as it heats in the fat.
Butter
Adds fat for richness, moisture, and golden browning in the pan.

The step that matters

Thicken one cup of milk with one tablespoon flour mixed with one tablespoon butter.. Mix the flour thoroughly into the butter and milk and keep stirring as it heats, so no lumps form. Cook until thick so the raw flour taste is gone and the starch sets the sauce.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, milk, fish, egg, flour, potato):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Cinnamonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, milk, fish, egg, flour, potato. 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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