Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Fish Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the mixture
Chop the fish finely.
Mash the potatoes and mix them with the fish, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Melt the butter or dripping, then add the fish mixture and milk, and mix well.
Shape the mixture into small, flat cakes of even size.
Coat and bake
Beat the egg on a plate, then coat the cakes in the egg and bread crumbs, reshaping as needed.
Place the cakes in a well-buttered paper bag, close the end, and fasten with wire clips.
Put the bag in a very hot oven (400 °F / 200 °C) on a grid shelf and cook for about 20 minutes, turning the bag twice during cooking.
Serve
Cut open the bag with scissors and place the fish cakes on a hot dish.
Garnish with sprigs of parsley and serve.
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 + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Forms the main body of the cakes and gives them their flavour.
- Potatoes
- Binds the fish together and keeps the cakes moist and tender.
- Butter or dripping
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour and helps keep the cakes moist.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the mixture is soft enough to shape.
- Egg
- Coats the cakes so the bread crumbs adhere and form a crust.
- Bread crumbs
- Form an outer coating that browns and adds a crisp texture.
The step that matters
Shaping and coating the cakes evenly. Cakes of even size and thickness cook at the same rate in the bag, so none end up dry or underdone. Reshaping after coating keeps the crumb layer intact.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, butter, milk, pepper, egg, bread):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Tomatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, milk, pepper, egg, bread. 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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