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Codfish Balls

A fried ball made from mashed potatoes, codfish flakes, egg, salt, and paprika.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and egg 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

Make the mixture

  1. Cook the sliced potatoes and codfish flakes together until the potatoes are soft.

  2. Drain excess water from the mixture.

  3. Add the beaten egg, salt, and paprika, then mix until light and fluffy.

Shape and fry

  1. Form the mixture into small balls.

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

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 + 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

Potatoes
Provide starch and bulk that hold the balls together and keep them tender inside.
Codfish flakes
Supply the savory, salty fish flavor that defines the dish.
Egg
Binds the mixture so it holds its shape and helps it turn light and fluffy.

The step that matters

Drain excess water from the mixture. Surplus water from the potatoes and fish makes the mixture loose and soggy, so the balls can fall apart or steam instead of browning in the hot oil. Draining well helps them hold their shape and fry crisp.

“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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