Name: Cod Pie
Ingredients: 1 dozen large oysters; 3 lemons; cod fish; sauce (optional); scallop shells or deep oyster shells

Why it works: Oyster and fish work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 496 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Cod Pie

Ingredients

Directions

If using fresh oysters, remove gills from oysters. If not available, substitute with Portuguese, American, or tinned oysters.
Prepare the cod fish and place it in a pie dish.
Add the oysters and any sauce if desired.
Cover with pastry and bake until golden brown.
If using scallop shells, clean and prepare them for serving.

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.

Oyster + fishtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together496 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sauce + scalloptop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together130 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,233 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Oyster + scalloptop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Lemon + fishtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,889 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).