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Codfish Balls

Codfish Balls are fried balls made from cooked codfish, mashed potatoes, eggs, and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,978 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mash the codfish until very smooth.

  2. Add the mashed potatoes and one beaten egg, then mix thoroughly.

  3. Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of an English walnut.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each ball in flour, then dip in egg, and coat with cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry the balls in deep fat until golden brown.

  3. Drain on paper towels, then arrange on a platter and garnish with fried potatoes and parsley.

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. Egg + potatotop 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

Codfish
Provides the main flavor and the bulk of the fish mixture.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and help the coating set around each ball.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.
Mashed potatoes
Add body and moisture, softening the fish mixture so the balls hold together.

The step that matters

Fry the balls in deep fat until golden brown. The coating must be fully set and browned at the surface before the centre is heated through. Frying at a steady, hot temperature gives a crisp crust without absorbing excess oil, while the interior cooks through.

“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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