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Codfish Balls

A fried mixture of mashed codfish, potatoes, egg, butter, and seasonings formed into balls.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the salt fish in cold water.

  2. In a kettle, place the potatoes and the soaked fish on top, then cover with boiling water.

  3. Cook until the potatoes are soft.

Mash and shape

  1. Drain the water and mash the fish and potatoes together in the kettle.

  2. Add pepper, coarse sea salt if needed, the beaten egg, and butter.

  3. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture into a frying basket and plunge into hot fat.

Fry

  1. Do not turn them while frying.

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

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

  2. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Potato + fishtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together134 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Provide the starchy bulk, and their starch helps the mash hold together when shaped.
Salt fish
Supplies the savory, salty flavor that defines the dish.
Egg
Binds the mashed mixture so the balls keep their shape while frying.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the mashed mixture.

The step that matters

Do not turn them while frying. The balls form a crust where they touch the hot fat. Turning them before that crust sets can make them tear or break apart and absorb more oil.

Swap the potato

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

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

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