Why it works: Flour and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,675 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and dry the cod quickly.
Dip the cod in milk.
Dip the cod in seasoned flour.
Fry
Heat the fat until smoking hot.
Gently place the cod in the fat.
Fry the cod for 2 to 3 minutes on one side.
Turn the cod and fry until golden brown and the flesh separates from the bone.
Baste the fried side while cooking.
Lift the fish.
Drain the fish thoroughly.
Serve
Serve the fish on a hot dish with a paper towel.
Garnish the fish with parsley.
Serve with a suitable sauce.
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.
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + parsleytop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,011 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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
- Cod
- Forms the main flesh that flakes apart when fully cooked through.
- Milk
- Helps the flour coating adhere to the fish before frying.
- Flour
- Forms a thin coating that browns and crisps in the hot fat.
- Fat
- Conducts heat to cook the fish and browns the coating for flavour and crispness.
The step that matters
Heat the fat until smoking hot before adding the cod. Very hot fat sears the coating quickly so it crisps and seals, reducing fat absorption and sticking. Fish added to cool fat soaks up oil and becomes greasy.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk):
- Jalapenofits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk. 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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