Name: Cod-fish Pie
Ingredients: 1½ lbs cold cod; 1 dozen oysters (tinned may be used); 1 pint melted butter sauce; ½ lb short crust pastry or mashed potatoes; salt and pepper to taste; nutmeg to taste

Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cod-fish Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1½ lbs cold cod
1 dozen oysters (tinned may be used)
1 pint melted butter sauce
½ lb short crust pastry or mashed potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste

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.

Prepare the oysters

Remove the gills from the oysters.
Simmer the oysters for a few minutes in a little water.
Strain the oysters.
Mix the oysters with the oyster liquor.
Cut the oysters into 2 or 4 pieces, depending on size.
Divide the cod into large flakes.

Assemble the pie

Place half of the cod flakes in a baking dish.
Layer the oysters on top of the cod.
Season the oysters with salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg.
Add the melted butter sauce over the oysters.
Cover with the remaining cod flakes.
If using mashed potatoes, season with salt and pepper.
Warm the mashed potatoes with a small piece of butter and 2-3 tablespoons of milk.
Spread the mashed potatoes over the fish.
Cover with short crust pastry.

Bake

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30-45 minutes.

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.

Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together13,015 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,052 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cod: Forms the main body of the pie, providing the flaky fish filling.
Oysters: Add a briny, savoury flavour to the fish filling.
Melted butter sauce: Adds richness and moisture so the fish stays juicy while baking.
Short crust pastry: Forms a crisp, golden crust that encloses the filling.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, butter, sauce, potato, pepper):

Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
Thymefits about as well
Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, butter, sauce, potato, 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.