Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cod Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cod
Salt the cod well and let it sit overnight.
The next day, wash the cod and season it with pepper and nutmeg.
Bake and make the sauce
Place the cod in a dish, add butter and a little broth.
Cover with pie crust and bake until done.
For the sauce, mix broth, cream, flour, and butter, then heat until thickened.
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.
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they 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
- Cod
- Forms the main flesh of the pie, cooked gently under the crust.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the fish so it steams in its own juices and butter.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body to the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the fish and sauce.
The step that matters
Heating the sauce until thickened. Flour needs to be heated long enough to swell and set the liquid; stopping too early leaves the sauce thin, while overheating can scorch it or cause lumps.
“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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