Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Creamed Codfish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Soak fish overnight.
Tear fish into flakes; do not cut it.
Cover with fresh water and bring to a boil.
Do not boil it.
Drain fish and cook 1 minute in a rich cream sauce made as follows.
Make the sauce
Melt butter, flour, and stir until there are no lumps.
Add gradually the hot milk, stirring all the time.
Season with salt and pepper, and cook until it thickens.
Pour the egg, well beaten, into the sauce just before adding the fish.
Serve
Serve creamed fish on buttered toast.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| 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.
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.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth sauce that sets as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the sauce and gives flavour to the flour roux.
- Egg (in the method)
- Enriches the sauce and helps it set and thicken when heated.
The step that matters
Pour the egg, well beaten, into the sauce just before adding the fish.. The egg is a thickener that can curdle or scramble if it overheats, so it should be added off the heat or at low heat and mixed in quickly, before the fish goes in.
“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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