Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fish Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the flaked cod and hot mashed potatoes.
Add the butter, beaten eggs, milk, and pepper; mix until smooth.
Shape and fry
Form the mixture into round cakes.
Fry the cakes in hot beef drippings or lard until golden brown.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + beeftop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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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 + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cod
- Provides the main flavor and flaky texture of the cakes.
- Mashed potatoes
- Bind the fish and add body and softness to the cakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture together and help the cakes hold their shape.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the mixture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the mixture.
The step that matters
Frying the cakes in hot fat. The fat must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. If it is too cool, the cakes absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy before a golden crust forms.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, milk, pepper, beef):
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits less well
- Tomatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, milk, pepper, beef. 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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