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 ↓
Salt Cod, to Boil
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the salt cod overnight.
Boil the cod the next day until done.
Separate the cod into flakes and place in a dish.
Pour egg sauce over the cod or serve with boiled and mashed parsnips mixed with butter and cream.
Serve immediately with sliced lemon.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Parsnip + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together172 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sauce, butter, cream, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Parsnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sauce, butter, cream, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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