Why it works: Fish and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 4,432 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Poach the fish
Shred the uncooked salt fish into pieces about 1 inch in size.
Place the fish in a tin pan and cover it with hot water.
Keep the water at a boiling point for 45 minutes without letting it boil.
Drain off all the water.
Add more boiling water to achieve your desired moisture.
Finish with butter and flour
In a separate bowl, mix a heaping spoonful of butter with a little flour.
Stir the butter and flour mixture into the fish, keeping it hot enough for the flour to cook.
Add a beaten egg (if desired).
Allow time for the egg to cook.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Fish + buttertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,432 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together118,511 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Flour + eggtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together104,138 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Fish + eggtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,745 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Uncooked salt fish
- Provides the main flavour and protein, softened by poaching in hot water.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, coating the fish for a smoother texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and the fish liquid, giving the dish body.
- Egg
- Sets when cooked through, adding structure and richness to the dish.
The step that matters
Keeping the water at a boil without a rolling boil. Salt fish must be simmered gently for 45 minutes to soften without toughening. Vigorous boiling can break up the fish and make its texture tough and stringy.
“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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