Name: Boiled New Potatoes
Ingredients: Potatoes of uniform size; Salt; Butter; Finely chopped parsley

Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Boiled New Potatoes

Ingredients

Potatoes of uniform size
Salt
Butter
Finely chopped parsley

Directions

Wash and peel the potatoes, then soak them in cold water for 10 minutes.
Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until soft.
Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a serving dish.
Pour melted butter over the potatoes and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
Serve immediately without covering to prevent sogginess.

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.

Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).