Why it works: Vinegar and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,477 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Boiled Codfish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and soak the codfish in cold salted water for 30 minutes.
Remove the fish and dry it with a cloth, then tie it up in a fish cloth.
Place a plate or saucer in the bottom of a pot and lay the fish on it.
Boil and serve
Cover the fish with boiling water, then add salt and vinegar.
Boil slowly for 30 minutes.
Carefully remove the fish and serve immediately with parsley or egg 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.
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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Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Codfish
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming flaky and tender when gently cooked.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the fish and firms its flesh during the soak and boil.
- Vinegar
- Adds a light acidity that brightens the mild flavour of the fish.
The step that matters
Boil slowly for 30 minutes. Gentle simmering keeps the fish flaky and moist, while a hard boil can toughen the proteins and break the flesh apart.
“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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