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Fish Croquettes

A fried fish mixture formed into shapes and coated in crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Fish Croquettes

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 Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the binder

  1. In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, then cook for a moment.

  2. Gradually stir in the milk, cooking until thickened.

  3. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, parsley, and onion if using.

  4. Stir in the flaked fish (and potatoes if using) and remove from heat.

Shape and coat

  1. Transfer the mixture to a platter and let it cool completely.

  2. Once cool, shape the mixture into cylinders or balls.

  3. Roll each piece in cracker crumbs, then dip in egg yolk, and coat again in cracker crumbs.

Fry and drain

  1. Heat lard in a frying pan. Test by dropping in a piece of bread; it should brown in about 13 seconds.

  2. Fry the croquettes until pale brown, then remove and drain on paper towels.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Butter + fishtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the melted butter and milk into a binder that holds the croquettes together.
Milk
Forms a thickened sauce with the flour that gives the mixture a moist, cohesive body.
Cooked fish
Provides the main filling and flavour of the croquettes.
Egg yolk
Adds binding and helps the cracker crumb coating adhere.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browned outer coating when fried.
Butter
Adds richness and flavour to the initial roux.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool completely before shaping. A warm, soft binder is too loose to hold its shape and will break apart during coating and frying. Full cooling lets the starch set so the croquettes keep their form.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, pepper, parsley, fish, egg):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, pepper, parsley, fish, 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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