Skip to main content
Main

Fish Croquettes

A fried patty of shredded fish, mashed potatoes, and seasonings coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Fish Croquettes

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fish Croquettes

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Remove skin and bones from the fish, then shred or chop it finely.

  2. Mash the potatoes and mix with the fish, parsley, pepper, and salt.

  3. Melt the butter and add it to the fish mixture, then mix well with the cream.

Shape and coat

  1. Form the mixture into small, even-sized round flat cakes on a floured surface.

  2. Beat the egg in a plate, brush it over the cakes, and toss them in breadcrumbs.

  3. Shape the cakes neatly again, shaking off any loose crumbs.

Fry

  1. Fry the cakes in boiling fat until golden brown.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 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

Cold fish
Forms the main body of the cakes and gives them their flavour.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the fish mixture.
Cooked potatoes
Bind the mixture and keep the cakes soft and moist inside.
Egg
Acts as a binder and, beaten, helps breadcrumbs stick to the cakes.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness to the fish mixture.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that browns when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the cakes in boiling fat until golden brown. The fat must be hot enough to set and brown the crumb coating quickly. If it is too cool, the cakes absorb grease and the coating can fall off or turn soggy.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, egg, cream, pepper, parsley. 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.

You might also like

Potato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesFried FishFried Fish120 recipesPotato RollsPotato Rolls78 recipesScalloped CodScalloped Cod69 recipes