Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Codfish Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the codfish
Soak the codfish in cold water overnight.
Rinse and soak in lukewarm water for 1 hour, then drain.
Place the fish in a pot and cover with 2 quarts of cold water.
Heat slowly on the back of the stove until boiling.
Remove the fish when the water boils.
Once the fish is cool, flake it, removing bones and skin.
Prepare the potatoes
Peel and chop enough potatoes to fill a quart measure.
Soak the potatoes in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain.
Boil the potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender.
Drain and mash with 1 tablespoon of butter.
Assemble and bake
Butter a baking dish.
Layer mashed potatoes, then fish, seasoning with white pepper.
Repeat layers, reserving some potatoes for the top.
Beat the egg and mix with 5 tablespoons of milk.
Pour the mixture over the layers in the dish, then cover with remaining mashed potatoes and dot with butter.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes or until the top is browned.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt codfish
- Provides the main body of the pie, flaked into tender pieces after soaking to remove salt.
- Potatoes
- Form the mashed layers that bind the pie and give it a soft, creamy texture.
- Egg
- Sets the milk mixture into a custard that holds the layers together when baked.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the egg mixture, keeping the custard smooth and tender.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the top of the pie brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Soaking the codfish. Salt cod is very salty and must be soaked long enough in fresh water to draw out salt; under-soaking leaves the pie harsh and overly salty, while the fish needs to be fully cooled before flaking so it stays in neat pieces.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, egg, milk):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, egg, milk. 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
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Potato Chips53 recipes
Sweet Potato Croquettes53 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.