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Codfish a LA Mode

A baked codfish and potato casserole with cream, eggs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Codfish a LA Mode

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Freshen the salt codfish by soaking it in water.

  2. In a bowl, mix the freshened codfish, mashed potatoes, cream or milk, beaten eggs, butter, salt, and pepper.

  3. Transfer the mixture to an earthen baking dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

  2. Serve in the baking dish on a small platter, covered with a fine napkin.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

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

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

  4. Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt codfish
Provides the main savory fish flavor and the flaked texture of the dish.
Mashed potatoes
Adds bulk and softness, helping the mixture hold together.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the baked mixture tender.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving it structure.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.

The step that matters

Freshen the salt codfish by soaking it in water. Salt cod is very salty when packed. Soaking draws out excess salt, so the dish is savory rather than harsh. Soak too briefly and the dish may taste over-salted; the fish also rehydrates and softens during soaking, which affects how evenly it blends into the mixture.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

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

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