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Codfish Balls

A fried ball made from mashed codfish, potatoes, butter, egg, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash, pare and cut the potatoes into quarters; let stand in cold water.

  2. Wash the fish and pick into half-inch pieces; remove the bones.

Make the mixture

  1. Put the potatoes and fish into a kettle, cover with boiling water and cook until potatoes are soft, about twenty-five minutes.

  2. Drain off all the water.

  3. Mash and beat until very light.

  4. Add the butter and pepper, and when slightly cooled add the egg and more salt if needed.

  5. Shape in a tablespoon.

Fry and serve

  1. The fat should be hot enough to brown a piece of raw potato in forty seconds.

  2. Fry in hot fat until a golden brown; use a frying basket and fry only four or five at a time; more will cool the fat.

  3. Drain on soft paper and serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

347Calories
11 gProtein
17 gFat
39 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Codfishnot 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.

By Tracy, Suzanne. [from old catalog]. 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. Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  2. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 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

Codfish
Provides the main flavour and the flaked body of the balls.
Potatoes
Starch that mashes light and binds the fish into a cohesive mixture.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the balls hold their shape while frying.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the mashed mixture.

The step that matters

Frying at the right temperature. Fat that is too cool lets the balls soak up oil and turn greasy, while frying only four or five at a time keeps the fat hot. The test with a raw potato checks that the fat is hot enough to brown the balls quickly and evenly.

Swap the potato

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

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

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