Name: Important Remarks on Cod-liver Oil
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh cod-liver; 2 pounds floury potatoes; melted butter; finely chopped parsley

Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Important Remarks on Cod-liver Oil

Ingredients

1 pound fresh cod-liver
2 pounds floury potatoes
melted butter
finely chopped parsley

Directions

Prepare

Peel and steam the potatoes until tender.
Cut the cod-liver into four pieces.

Steam and release the oil

Place the cod-liver over the steamed potatoes.
Steam the potatoes and cod-liver together, allowing the oil to drip onto the potatoes.
Make incisions in the cod-liver to release more oil.

Serve

Serve the potatoes with melted butter and finely chopped 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.

Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Liver + parsleytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,095 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Liver + buttertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,065 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fresh cod-liver: Provides the rich oil that drips onto the potatoes and flavours them during steaming.
Floury potatoes: Their starchy, fluffy texture absorbs the oil and soaks up the flavour well.
Melted butter: Adds fat and richness to the finished potatoes.