Name: Full Diet
Ingredients: 13 ounces of bread; 8 ounces of potatoes; 6 ounces of dressed meat (roast or boiled leg or neck of mutton, or roast beef); 1 pint of broth or pea soup; 4 ounces of boiled rice or rice pudding made with milk; 1 quart of milk; 1 pint of beer

Why it works: Potato and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 851 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Full Diet

Ingredients

13 ounces of bread
8 ounces of potatoes
6 ounces of dressed meat (roast or boiled leg or neck of mutton, or roast beef)
1 pint of broth or pea soup
4 ounces of boiled rice or rice pudding made with milk
1 quart of milk
1 pint of beer

Directions

Prepare

Serve 13 ounces of bread as a side.
Prepare 8 ounces of potatoes by boiling or roasting.
Cook 6 ounces of dressed meat by roasting or boiling.
Alternate between serving 1 pint of broth or pea soup weekly.
Make 4 ounces of boiled rice or rice pudding using milk.

Serve

Serve 1 quart of milk as a beverage.
Enjoy 1 pint of beer.

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 + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together851 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + ricetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread: Provides starch and bulk as a filling side dish.
Potatoes: Supply starch that softens when boiled or roasted, adding bulk to the meal.
Dressed meat: Provides protein and savory flavor, browned by roasting or tender when boiled.
Milk: Adds moisture and richness, and is the base for the rice pudding.
Rice: Adds starchy bulk; milk-cooked rice becomes soft and creamy in pudding.