Why it works: Sauce and horseradish work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 775 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
To Boil Salt Cod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the salt cod in cold water for 12 hours, changing the water every 4 hours.
Place the soaked cod in a fish kettle covered with cold water.
Cook
Heat over a slow fire until it reaches boiling point, but do not let it boil.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.
Serve
Carefully dish the fish on a napkin and serve with egg sauce.
Garnish with horseradish.
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.
-
Sauce + horseradishtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together775 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Fish + horseradishtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together178 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
-
Sauce + fishtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,487 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Egg + fishtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,782 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + horseradishtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together694 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt cod
- Is the main protein, firm and flaky once soaked and gently cooked.
- Egg sauce for fish
- Adds richness and moisture to the mild, lean fish.
The step that matters
Heating without boiling. Bringing the water to a gentle heat rather than a rolling boil keeps the fish tender and prevents it from breaking up and toughening.
Swap the horseradish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sauce, fish):
- Horseradishthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sauce, fish. 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.
You might also like
Fried Fish120 recipes
Fish Croquettes81 recipes
Scalloped Cod69 recipes
Broiled Fish68 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.