Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Fish Ckoquettjes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the fish, mashed potatoes, butter, hot milk, beaten egg, pepper, salt, and parsley thoroughly.
Let the mixture cool.
Shape and coat
Shape the cooled mixture into balls.
Dip each ball into a beaten egg, then roll in bread crumbs.
Fry
Fry in hot lard until golden brown.
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.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold boiled fish
- Provides the main flesh and flavour of the croquettes.
- Mashed potatoes
- Adds bulk and softness, helping the mixture hold together while moist.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so the croquettes keep their shape.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the filling.
- Hot milk
- Softens the mixture and keeps the potato filling moist.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before shaping. A warm, soft mixture is too loose to hold its shape, so it can fall apart or stick to the hands. Cooling lets the starch and egg set slightly, firming the mixture so the balls keep their form in the hot fat.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, potato, butter, milk, egg, pepper):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Thymefits less well
- Dillfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, potato, butter, milk, egg, pepper. 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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