Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Shred Codfish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Flake the codfish very fine and wash it in two waters, squeezing tightly to remove excess water.
Make the codfish
In a saucepan, combine the codfish, butter, and flour, mixing thoroughly.
Slowly add the boiling water, stirring continuously until it comes to a boil.
If desired, stir in a well-beaten egg just before removing from heat.
Garnish with hard-boiled eggs if you choose.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Codfish
- Provides the main body and flavor, shredded so it blends into a soft mass.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the finished dish.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture as it is heated with the boiling water.
- Egg
- Optional; stirred in raw at the end, it sets with the heat and enriches the texture.
The step that matters
Squeezing the codfish after washing. Excess water left in the fish dilutes the mixture and keeps it from thickening well, so the fish should be squeezed firmly after the two washes.
“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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