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Codfish a LA Creme

A baked codfish dish served in a creamy sauce topped with mashed potatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Codfish a LA Creme

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Scald the codfish and remove any skin or bones.

  2. Flake the codfish into pieces.

  3. Boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them.

Assemble and bake

  1. In a bowl, mix the codfish with Worcestershire sauce, anchovy sauce, butter, and cream.

  2. In a pudding dish, layer the codfish mixture and top with the mashed potatoes.

  3. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes until browned.

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.

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. Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 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

Codfish
Forms the main body of the dish, providing flaky, meaty texture and most of the protein.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and giving the mixture a smooth, moist texture.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, helping the fish mixture stay soft and creamy when baked.
Potatoes
Form the mashed topping, which becomes soft inside and browns on top in the oven.
Worcestershire sauce
Adds savoury, acidic depth that seasons the fish mixture throughout.
Anchovy sauce
Adds a salty, savoury umami note that deepens the flavour of the fish.

The step that matters

Layering and browning the topping. Mashed potatoes spread over the fish must be even and not overly wet, so the top browns evenly rather than steaming. Watch the bake closely, since the 15-20 minute window is what sets the surface colour without drying the fish.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, anchovy, butter, cream):

  1. Onionfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, anchovy, butter, cream. 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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