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Mont Blanc Potato

A baked potato mixture with milk, egg whites, butter, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

Mont Blanc Potato

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Wash and pick over the potatoes to remove dead leaves and coarse stems.

  2. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 25 minutes.

  3. Drain and press through a colander, then chop finely.

Season and heat

  1. Return to the fire in a saucepan and add butter, pepper, and vinegar.

  2. Stir and toss until very hot, then serve.

Whip and bake

  1. Whip the boiled potatoes with a fork until light and dry.

  2. Gradually whip in hot milk until fully combined.

  3. Beat in the frothed egg whites until smooth.

  4. Heap the mixture in a deep dish and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the surface hardens slightly.

  5. Remove before it turns brown, brush lightly with butter, and serve.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

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

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk and structure of the mash once whipped dry.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, loosening the mash so it whips smoothly.
Egg whites
Whipped to foam, they lighten the mash and set into a soft crust when baked.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, and a light brushing gives the top a golden finish.

The step that matters

Remove before the surface browns. Egg white proteins set with heat, so a brief bake firms the top. Left too long at 400°F, the surface dries out and browns quickly, becoming tough and bitter.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Mustardfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, butter, pepper, vinegar. 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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