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 ↓
Fish Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the flour and mix thoroughly.
Stir in the cream, then add the onion juice, pepper, salt, egg yolks, fish, and parsley.
Spread the mixture on a dish to cool.
Shape and coat
Shape into croquettes.
In a bowl, beat one egg with water.
Dip the croquettes in bread crumbs, then in the egg mixture, and again in bread crumbs.
Fry and serve
Fry in boiling fat until golden brown.
Serve with béchamel or hollandaise 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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,488 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
- Boiled fish
- Forms the main body of the croquettes and gives them their flavour.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and add richness to help it hold its shape.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and cream into a mixture firm enough to shape.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and softness to the mixture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour to the base mixture.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating when fried.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture fully before shaping. A mixture that is still warm is soft and sticky, so the croquettes may lose their shape or split. Cooling lets the flour-thickened base set enough to hold together during coating and frying.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, pepper, butter, cream, egg, flour, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, pepper, butter, cream, egg, flour, parsley. 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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