Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Fish Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Remove skin and bones from the fish and break it into small pieces with two forks.
In a bowl, combine the potatoes, salt, and pepper; add the milk or melted butter and one egg to bind the mixture, ensuring it is not too moist.
Gently stir in the fish.
Shape and fry
Take a tablespoon of the mixture and shape it into round cakes about 1 inch thick on a floured surface.
Beat the other egg in a plate, brush the cakes with it, and dip them into the bread crumbs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot, then fry the cakes until golden brown and drain on kitchen paper.
Arrange on a hot dish and garnish with parsley, fried or fresh as desired.
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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Fish + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,668 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture together and, beaten, form a coating that helps the crumbs stick.
- Mashed potatoes
- Add body and softness, keeping the cakes moist inside while they hold their shape.
- Cooked fish
- Forms the main body of the cakes and gives them their flavour.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden outer crust when the cakes are fried.
- Milk or butter
- Adds moisture and richness so the mixture stays tender rather than dry.
The step that matters
Keep the mixture not too moist. Excess moisture from potatoes, milk or butter makes the cakes soft and prone to falling apart when shaped and fried. Binding with just enough egg gives a mixture that holds its shape.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, potato, milk, egg, pepper, bread):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Marjoramfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against fish, potato, milk, egg, pepper, bread. 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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