Name: Boiled Codfish
Ingredients: a tablespoonful of flour mixed smooth in cold milk; a piece of butter the size of a small hen's ^gg; butter the size of a small hen's ^gg; pepper; salt

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Boiled Codfish

Ingredients

a tablespoonful of flour mixed smooth in cold milk
a piece of butter the size of a small hen's ^gg
butter the size of a small hen's ^gg
pepper
salt

Directions

Prepare the fish

Take as much codfish as you think you will require and put it in a pan of cold water overnight to freshen.
About an hour before dinner drain the water off.
Pick the fish into pieces.
Put the fish in a pan or kettle with enough cold water to cover it.

Cook and finish

Set on the stove and let it slowly come to a scald (do not let it boil, for boiling makes it hard).
Pour off the water and add enough milk to cover the fish when it comes to a boil.
Thicken with a tablespoonful of flour mixed smooth in cold milk.
Just before serving, break in two, three, or as many eggs as you wish, and add a piece of butter the size of a small hen's egg.
Pepper and salt to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

712Calories

21 gProtein

21 gFat

108 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. 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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Codfish (in the method): Freshening overnight in water softens the salted fish so it becomes tender and flaky when cooked.
Eggs (in the method): Set when broken into the hot liquid, adding body and richness to the dish.
Flour: Thickens the milk into a smooth, lightly bodied sauce around the fish.
Milk: Forms the creamy liquid that the flour thickens and the fish is cooked in.