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Cod, Curried

A cod dish simmered with butter, onions, stock, curry, cream, and seasoning.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cod, Curried

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the fish

  1. Flake the fish and fry it in butter with the onions until nicely browned.

  2. Transfer the fish and onions to a stewpan, add the stock and thickening, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir the curry powder into the cream, then add it along with the seasoning to the stewpan.

  2. Bring to a boil and serve.

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

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

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  3. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour 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

Cod
Forms the main body of the dish, flaking into tender pieces as it cooks.
Butter
Fat for frying that browns the fish and onions and adds richness.
Onion
Softens and browns in the butter, adding sweetness and savoury depth.
White stock
Liquid that forms the sauce base and carries the curry flavour.
Flour
Thickens the stock into a smooth sauce when cooked with butter.
Cream
Adds richness and body, mellowing the curry powder in the sauce.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil and serve. Once the cream is in, boiling can cause it to separate or curdle, and it can thicken unevenly. Keep the heat controlled so the sauce stays smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, flour, cream, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, flour, cream, 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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