Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Codfish Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the codfish
Soak the codfish until it is fresh enough.
Pick the codfish very finely.
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and codfish.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
Form the mixture into balls.
Fry
Fry the balls in equal parts butter and lard until browned.
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 + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Mashed potatoes
- Provide the bulk and soft body that holds the codfish together.
- Codfish
- Supplies the salty, savory flavour that defines the balls.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavour and helps the outside brown during frying.
- Lard
- Fat for frying that browns the outside and carries heat evenly.
The step that matters
Fry the balls in equal parts butter and lard until browned. Frying in fat at a steady heat browns the outside and forms a crisp crust, while the mixture inside warms through. Too low heat soaks in grease; too high burns the crust before the centre heats.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
- Carrotfits less well
- Onionfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter. 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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