Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Potatoe Cheese Curd
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Bruise the potatoes finely.
Mix the bruised potatoes with butter, eggs, stale savoy cake, and flour until well combined.
Shape the mixture as desired.
Bake and serve
Bake until golden.
Serve warm.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
What each ingredient does
- Mealy potatoes
- Provide the bulk and starchy body that holds the dough together.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure as they set.
- Flour
- Gives the mixture structure so it holds its shape.
- Stale savoy cake
- Adds absorbent body and a light, soft crumb.
The step that matters
Bake until golden. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction and caramelization at the surface. Too little heat leaves the curds pale and doughy, while too much can scorch the outside before the inside sets.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour):
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour. 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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