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Codfish Balls

Codfish balls are fried patties 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 mashed potatoes and minced codfish.

  2. Add butter and mix well.

  3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add to the mixture, beating 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
Provide the bulk and soft body that holds the balls together.
Codfish
Supplies the savory, salty fish flavour and some protein structure.
Butter
Adds richness and a smoother, moister texture to the mixture.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape while frying.
Lard
Conducts heat for frying and browns the outside to a golden crust.

The step that matters

Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the balls absorb grease and turn soggy and heavy. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the centre cooks through. Steady heat gives a crisp, golden exterior with a cooked interior.

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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