Why it works: Potato and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Codfish Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the balls
Thoroughly mix codfish, mashed potatoes, and chopped red beets.
Mold the mixture into balls.
Brown and serve
Brown the balls in the fat from salt pork.
Garnish with crisp bits of fried pork.
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.
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Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Codfish
- Provides the main savory body and flavor of the balls.
- Mashed potatoes
- Binds the fish together and adds softness and moisture to the mixture.
- Cooked red beets
- Adds color and a mild sweetness that contrasts with the salty fish.
- Salt pork
- Its rendered fat browns the outside of the balls and adds savory flavor.
The step that matters
Browning the balls in the pork fat. The balls are already cooked, so the goal is surface browning. Frying over moderate heat lets the outside brown and crisp before the soft interior breaks apart; too little fat or heat causes sticking and pale results.
“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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