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Codfish Croquettes

Codfish croquettes are fried balls of mashed potato, cod, butter, cream, pepper, egg, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Codfish Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Melt the butter and stir into the mashed potato.

  2. Add the codfish, pepper, and cream; mix thoroughly.

  3. Form the mixture into round or oval balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll the balls in the beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs.

  2. Place them in a frying basket and sink them in deep hot lard.

  3. Test the oil's heat with a bit of bread.

  4. Fry until the croquettes are golden brown.

Serve

  1. Lift the basket and let them drip for a moment before serving on a napkin.

  2. If there's a delay in serving, keep them hot in the oven.

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

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Egg + breadtop 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

Mashed potato
Provides the bulk and soft interior that holds the croquettes together.
Codfish
Supplies the main flavor and firm, flaky texture inside the croquette.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the potato base.
Cream or rich milk
Adds moisture so the mixture stays soft and easy to shape.
Egg
Binds the coating so the bread crumbs stick and brown evenly.
Fine bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Test the oil's heat with a bit of bread.. If the lard is too cool, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy; if too hot, it browns before the centre heats through. A bread cube sizzling steadily shows the oil is in the right range.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Asparagusfits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

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