Name: Fish Balls
Ingredients: a pound of boneless codfish; a tablespoonful of butter; three quarters of a pound of boneless codfish; two beaten eggs; white pepper

Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Fish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Soak over night three quarters of a pound of boneless codfish.
In the morning shred the fish (uncooked) very carefully with a silver fork till it is fine. Add to it a dozen potatoes of medium size, freshly boiled, mashed, and rubbed through a sieve, two beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, a little hot milk or cream, and a sprinkling of white pepper.
Mold into round balls, and drop into very hot fat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

186Calories

7 gProtein

17 gFat

2 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Codfish	not in our table	0

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

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Egg + white peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,312 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Butter + white peppertop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,814 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).