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Cod Fricaseed

A stew of dried cod, fish eggs, liver, onions, herbs, spices, and wine, finished with oysters and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and mace match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,557 recipes mention both. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, fish, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Scald the cod and cut them into small pieces.

  2. If dried, boil them until tender.

  3. Blanch the roes and cut them into 1-inch thick pieces.

  4. Cut the liver into equal pieces.

Stew

  1. In a stewpan, combine the cod, roes, liver, nutmeg, mace, onion, herbs, salt, and boiling water.

  2. Cover and stew for 7-8 minutes.

  3. Add port wine, oysters with their strained liquor, and floured butter.

  4. Stew gently, shaking the pan occasionally until cooked.

  5. Remove the onion and herbs.

Serve

  1. Dish up.

  2. Garnish with lemon.

  3. Serve.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Nutmeg + macetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Roe + eggtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together238 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Liver + port winetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together108 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Mace + port winetop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together695 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Liver + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together1,421 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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, flaking into tender pieces as it stews.
Roes
Add richness and a firm, savoury texture to the stew.
Liver
Adds richness and a soft, creamy texture to the stew.
Oysters
Contribute a briny flavour and their liquor adds moisture to the sauce.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, and the flour coating helps thicken the liquid.
Port wine
Adds sweetness, depth and aroma to the sauce.

The step that matters

Stew gently, shaking the pan occasionally until cooked. High heat can toughen fish and cause it to break apart, while gentle simmering keeps it tender. Shaking helps the floured butter blend evenly into the liquid so the sauce thickens smoothly without lumps.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (roe, fish, egg, liver, nutmeg, mace, port wine):

  1. Shallotbetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against roe, fish, egg, liver, nutmeg, mace, port wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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