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Codfish Balls

Codfish balls are made from shredded salt fish, mashed potatoes, butter, egg, cream, and breadcrumbs, then fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish and potatoes

  1. Wash and pick over the salt fish, then shred the fish into small pieces.

  2. Put the fish and potatoes in a saucepan, cover with boiling water, and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

  3. Drain the mixture thoroughly.

Make the mixture

  1. Mash and beat the mixture with a fork until light.

  2. Add the melted butter and mix well.

  3. Cool the mixture slightly.

  4. Incorporate the beaten egg and cream gradually, adjusting for consistency.

Shape and fry

  1. Form the mixture into balls.

  2. Coat the balls with egg and breadcrumbs.

  3. Fry the coated balls in hot oil until golden.

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

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

  4. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  5. Fish + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together134 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt fish
Provides the main savoury flavour and salty character of the balls.
Potatoes
Bind the mixture and give the balls a soft, tender body when mashed.
Egg
Binds the mixture so the balls hold their shape and set when cooked.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness to the mashed mixture.
Melted butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing flavour and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Incorporate the beaten egg and cream gradually, adjusting for consistency.. Adding liquid all at once can make the mixture too wet to hold its shape. Adding it gradually and checking the texture lets the cook stop once the mixture is firm enough to form into balls.

Swap the potato

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, fish, 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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