Name: Full Diet
Ingredients: 12 oz bread; 8 oz potatoes; 6 oz meat (roast or boiled leg or neck of mutton, or roast beef); ½ pint broth or pea soup; 4 oz boiled rice or rice pudding made with milk; 1 pint milk; 1 pint 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

Directions

Prepare

Serve 12 oz of bread as a side.
Prepare 8 oz of potatoes by boiling or roasting.
Cook 6 oz of meat by roasting or boiling.

Soup, rice and drinks

Serve ½ pint of broth or pea soup four times a week on alternate days.
Prepare 4 oz of boiled rice or rice pudding with milk.
Serve 1 pint of milk and 1 pint of beer as beverages.

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 side dish.
Potatoes: Provide starch and bulk, becoming soft and filling when boiled or roasted.
Meat: Provides protein and savoury flavour; roasting adds browning.
Broth or pea soup: Adds moisture and liquid to the meal.
Rice: Adds starch and bulk; milk in rice pudding adds creaminess and sweetness.