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Codfish Balls

Codfish balls are fried balls made from mashed potatoes, minced codfish, butter, eggs, and fried in lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,456 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and minced codfish.

  2. Add butter to the mixture and mix well.

  3. Stir in the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.

Fry

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot lard.

  2. Fry until golden brown, similar to doughnuts.

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

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

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provides starchy bulk that holds the balls together and gives a soft, tender interior.
Codfish
Supplies the main flavor and protein, giving the balls their savory character.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so it holds its shape when dropped into the fat.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing moisture and a smoother texture.

The step that matters

Drop spoonfuls into hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the balls absorb grease and turn heavy and oily instead of crisping on the outside. A hot fat quickly sets the surface, sealing in moisture and forming a golden crust.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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