Why it works: Milk and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Codfish Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the codfish
Soak the shredded codfish in cold water until fresh, then drain well.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine the codfish, flour, sweet cream (or butter), and milk.
Season with pepper and heat slowly, stirring well.
Once heated, remove from heat and quickly stir in the beaten egg.
Serve
Prepare well-seasoned, moist toast and pour the codfish mixture over it.
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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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Shredded codfish
- Provides the main savoury flavour and body of the topping.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the milk and cream into a smooth, spoonable sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a creamy sauce.
- Egg
- Sets gently into the warm sauce, adding richness and body.
- Sweet cream or butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Stir in the egg off the heat. Egg proteins set when heated, so adding the beaten egg after removing the pan from the heat and stirring quickly keeps the sauce smooth rather than scrambled or lumpy.
“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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