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Cod, Head and Shoulders of

Boiled cod head and shoulders served with separately cooked roe and liver, horseradish, sliced lemon, oyster or anchovy sauce, and melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Horseradish and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,155 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Cod, Head and Shoulders of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the fish thoroughly and rub a little salt inside.

  2. Bind tape around the cheeks to prevent breaking.

  3. If crimped, plunge into hot water; otherwise, pour cold water gently over the fish.

  4. Use 1 tablespoon of salt for every 3 quarts of water.

Poach

  1. Once the water boils, remove scum and let the fish simmer gently until ready.

  2. When the flesh parts easily from the bone, the fish is ready.

Serve

  1. Drain well and serve on a hot napkin with roe and liver cooked separately.

  2. Garnish with horseradish and sliced lemon.

  3. Serve with oyster or anchovy sauce and melted butter.

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. Horseradish + lemontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,155 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

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

  3. Horseradish + oystertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together282 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  4. Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

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

  5. Lemon + oystertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,942 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

Cod
Forms the main body of the dish; its flesh firms and flakes as it cooks.
Horseradish
Adds a sharp, pungent heat that contrasts with the rich, mild fish.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, fatty mouthfeel to the served fish.
Oyster or anchovy sauce
Adds salty, savory depth that complements the mild flavor of the cod.

The step that matters

Simmering the fish gently. Once the water boils, a gentle simmer keeps the flesh tender and intact. A rolling boil toughens proteins and can break the fish apart, so the fish should cook at a low, steady heat until the flesh parts easily from the bone.

“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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