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Stuffed Cod Steaks

Stuffed cod steaks filled with a breadcrumb and oyster mixture, baked until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stuffed Cod Steaks

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash the cod steaks in salted water and dry thoroughly.

  2. Bone the cod steaks.

  3. Prepare the forcemeat by mixing bread crumbs, sweet herbs, pepper, salt, cayenne, oysters or shrimps, egg, melted butter, and parsley.

Stuff and bake

  1. Stuff the center of the cod steaks with the forcemeat, piling it high.

  2. Dust the top with some bread crumbs.

  3. Place the steaks in a baking dish with 1 to 2 oz of melted butter.

  4. Bake in a fairly hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Bread + oystertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cod steaks
Provide the firm white fish that is stuffed and baked as the main body of the dish.
Egg
Binds the forcemeat so it holds together when stuffed into the fish.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the forcemeat body, and brown on top for a crisp finish.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the fish stay tender and the top brown while baking.
Oysters or shrimps
Add savory seafood flavor to the forcemeat filling.

The step that matters

Stuff and bake the steaks without overcooking. Cod is lean and cooks quickly, so it turns dry and tough if left in the oven too long. Piling the forcemeat high keeps the filling moist while the fish cooks through.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pepper, oyster, egg, butter):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Sagefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pepper, oyster, egg, butter. 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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