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Cod Steaks with Ham

Baked cod steaks topped with ham, coated in a breadcrumb and herb mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 Steaks with Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA fairly hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a fairly hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wipe the cod slices and place them on a buttered dish.

  2. In a bowl, mix the bread crumbs, savory herbs, and parsley, then bind with the beaten egg.

  3. Spread the mixture on each slice of fish and season with salt and pepper.

  4. Top each slice with a slice of raw ham or lean bacon.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the fish in a well-greased paper bag, fold the end, and fasten with clips.

  2. Put the bag on a grid shelf in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C).

  3. Bake for about 20 minutes.

  4. Serve with anchovy sauce, if desired.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,260 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).

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, cooking through gently inside the bag.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp-edged coating that soaks up moisture from the fish.
Egg
Binds the crumbs and herbs together so the coating holds on the fish.
Ham or bacon
Adds savory fat and salty flavour as it cooks over the fish.

The step that matters

Fastening the paper bag. A well-sealed bag traps steam so the cod cooks gently in its own moisture. If the seal is loose, steam escapes and the fish can dry out and the coating may not set.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, bread, egg, pepper, ham, anchovy, sauce):

  1. Capersfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Nutmegfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, bread, egg, pepper, ham, anchovy, sauce. 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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