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Cod Pie

A pie made with flaked cold cod, oysters, melted butter, and mashed potato topping, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Cod Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Flake the fish from the bone and remove all the skin.

  2. Place the fish in a pie dish.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour melted butter and oysters (or oyster sauce) over the fish.

  2. Cover with mashed potatoes.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes until golden brown.

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

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

  2. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  3. Oyster + potatotop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together229 recipes

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

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 pie, providing the savoury filling.
Oysters
Add a briny, savoury flavour that seasons the fish filling.
Melted butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the top and filling stay tender.
Mashed potatoes
Form a soft topping that browns in the oven, adding colour and texture.

The step that matters

Covering with mashed potatoes. The potato layer should seal over the fish so steam stays trapped and the filling does not dry out. Spreading it evenly to the edges also helps it brown uniformly in the oven.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Shallotfits about as well
  2. Cucumberfits about as well
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Onionfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, 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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