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Codfish Balls

Codfish Balls are made from soaked cod, mashed potatoes, butter, cream, pepper, formed into balls, rolled in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream 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 cod

  1. Soak the codfish in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain.

  2. Cover the cod with boiling water and let it stand on the back of the stove for 15 minutes.

  3. Drain again and press out all the water.

Form the balls

  1. Mix the cod with the well-beaten mashed potatoes.

  2. Add the butter, cream, and pepper, and beat well.

  3. Form the mixture into balls.

  4. Roll the balls in egg and breadcrumbs (or in eggs and flour).

Fry

  1. Fry in boiling lard until well browned.

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. Butter + creamtop 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. Butter + potatotop 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. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Salt cod
Provides the main savory flavour and the flaky body of the fish balls.
Mashed potatoes
Bind the fish together and give the balls a soft, tender interior.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the mixture.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, keeping the mixture from drying out.

The step that matters

Press out all the water from the cod. Salt cod holds water after soaking and boiling; leftover moisture makes the mixture loose, so the balls may fall apart and fry unevenly.

“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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