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Codfish Balls

Codfish balls are fried balls made from mashed potatoes, codfish, butter, milk, egg, bread crumbs, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine mashed potatoes, codfish, butter, milk, egg, bread crumbs, and pepper.

  2. Form the mixture into round oval balls.

  3. Roll each ball in beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat lard in a frying basket until hot.

  2. Fry the balls until golden brown.

  3. Remove from lard and let drain on a napkin.

  4. If not serving immediately, keep warm in a 300°F (150°C) oven on brown paper.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 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

Mashed potatoes
Provide the bulk and soft body that holds the balls together.
Codfish
Supplies the savory fish flavor that defines the balls.
Egg
Binds the mixture and forms a coating that helps the crumbs adhere.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust when fried.
Butter
Adds richness and a softer, tender texture to the mixture.
Rich milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture soft.

The step that matters

Rolling in egg and crumbs before frying. The mixture is soft and wet, so a full egg and crumb coating is needed to seal the surface. Without it, the balls can break apart or absorb too much hot fat.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, egg, bread, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Tomatofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, egg, bread, pepper. 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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