Why it works: Parsnip and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 669 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
To Dress Salt Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cod
Soak the salt cod in water with vinegar overnight.
Boil the cod until cooked through, then break it into flakes on a serving dish.
Make the parsnip cream
Boil the parsnips until tender, then mash them.
In a saucepan, combine the mashed parsnips with cream and butter mixed with flour, and heat until warmed through.
Serve
Pour the parsnip mixture over the cod and serve.
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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Parsnip + flourtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together669 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Parsnip + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,109 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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
- Salt cod
- Forms the main body of the dish as flaky, savoury protein once soaked and cooked.
- Parsnips
- Mashed, they provide the sweet, earthy base that gives the cream its body and flavour.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the parsnip mixture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour, helping the sauce feel rich and smooth.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and cream mixture so it coats the cod instead of running off.
The step that matters
Soaking the salt cod. Salt cod is very salty and must be soaked long enough to draw out excess salt and rehydrate the fish. Under-soaking leaves the dish harsh and over-salted, while the cod stays firm and dry.
Swap the parsnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, cream, butter, flour, pepper):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Parsnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, cream, butter, flour, pepper. 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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