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Fish and Potato Mould

A baked dish of finely chopped fish mixed with mashed potatoes, butter, and seasonings, served with boiled egg and fried bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Fish and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 637 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Fish and Potato Mould

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Remove all skin and bones from the fish and chop it finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine the fish, mashed potatoes, melted butter, and seasonings.

Bake and serve

  1. Press the mixture firmly into a buttered mold.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  3. Turn the mold onto a hot dish.

  4. Rub the hard-boiled egg through a sieve over the dish.

  5. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with curled fried bacon around the mold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Fish + anchovytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together637 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold fish
Forms the main body of the casserole and gives it its flavour.
Mashed potatoes
Binds the fish and adds moisture and softness to the mixture.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the mixture hold together and taste rich.
Hard-boiled egg
Sieved over the dish as a fine garnish that adds a soft, crumbly texture.

The step that matters

Press the mixture firmly into the mold. Firm pressing removes air pockets so the casserole holds its shape when turned out and slices cleanly. Loose packing can cause it to crumble or fall apart after baking.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (fish, anchovy, potato, butter, pepper, egg):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, anchovy, potato, butter, pepper, egg. 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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