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Codfish Balls

Codfish balls are fried patties made from mashed potatoes, minced codfish, butter, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,456 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Codfish Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

  1. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and minced codfish.

  2. Add butter to the mixture and mix well.

  3. Stir in the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.

Fry

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot lard.

  2. Fry until golden brown, similar to doughnuts.

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. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provide bulk and starch that hold the mixture together and give a soft interior.
Codfish
Supplies the main flavour and protein, giving the balls their savoury character.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the balls keep their shape and set slightly when fried.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, softening the mixture and adding flavour.

The step that matters

Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the balls absorb fat and turn greasy and pale, while too hot a pan browns the outside before the centre heats through. Steady heat gives a golden crust and a cooked interior.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg. 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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