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Sardine Croquettes

Small fried croquettes made from minced sardines, egg yolks, bread crumbs, melted butter and lemon juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Sardine Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mince the sardines finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine minced sardines, melted butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.

  3. Shape the mixture into small rolls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each roll in beaten eggs, then roll in cornmeal.

  2. Fry until golden brown.

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. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Sardines
Provide the main flavor and protein, giving the croquettes their savory character.
Hard-boiled egg yolks
Bind the mixture and add richness and a smooth, tender texture.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold its shape when rolled.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and moisture, keeping the centre tender.
Beaten eggs
Act as a binder so the cornmeal coating adheres to each roll.

The step that matters

Shape and coat the rolls. The mixture must be firm enough to hold its shape before coating. Coating each roll fully in egg and cornmeal creates a barrier that helps it stay intact and brown evenly when fried.

“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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