Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Cod Ob Salmon Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
In a mortar, combine the cold boiled fish, cold potatoes, butter, pepper, salt, mace, and anchovy sauce.
Thoroughly mix until well beaten.
Shape and coat
Shape the mixture into small cutlets.
Dip each cutlet in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs.
Fry
Fry the cutlets in hot oil until they are light brown.
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.
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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together637 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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).
-
Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 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
- Cold boiled fish
- Forms the main body of the cutlets and gives them their flavor.
- Cold potatoes
- Adds bulk and soft texture, helping the mixture hold together when shaped.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the mixture.
- Egg
- Binds the coating so the bread crumbs adhere to the cutlets.
The step that matters
Fry the cutlets in hot oil until light brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the cutlets absorb oil and turn greasy before the coating browns. Oil that is too hot browns the crumbs before the centre heats through. Keep the heat steady.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, potato, butter, pepper, anchovy, sauce, egg):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, potato, butter, pepper, anchovy, sauce, egg. 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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