Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Slices of Cod Fish Fried
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the cod fish into slices nearly 1 inch thick.
Season the slices with coarse sea salt and white pepper or cayenne.
Coat the slices well with flour.
Fry and serve
Fry the slices until they are a clear, even brown on both sides.
Drain the fried slices on a sieve before the fire.
Serve on a well-heated napkin with plenty of crispy parsley around them.
Alternatively, dip the slices in beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs mixed with salt and pepper before frying.
Serve with melted butter and anchovy sauce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together637 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,260 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod fish
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking into flaky, tender slices.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that helps the slices brown evenly in the frying fat.
- Beaten egg
- Binds the bread crumbs to the fish in the alternative coating, helping them stick during frying.
- Fine bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden outer crust when fried in the alternative coating.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat to the finished slices for serving.
The step that matters
Fry until clear, even brown on both sides. Fish cooks quickly and can dry out or toughen if overcooked, while undercooked slices stay pale and soft. Even browning on both sides depends on steady heat and turning the slices once the first side has set and coloured.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, flour, egg, bread, butter, anchovy, sauce):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, flour, egg, bread, butter, anchovy, sauce. 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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