Name: Potato and Shiitake Mushroom Gratin
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons butter; 1 1/2 pounds fresh mushrooms, quartered; 1 1/2 pounds fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and coarsely chopped; 3 tablespoons minced garlic; 2 teaspoons dried thyme; 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed; salt to taste; ground black pepper to taste; 2 cups chicken broth; 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices; 2 cups Parmesan cheese; 2 cups heavy cream; 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; 1 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 cups half-and-half cream

Why it works: Thyme and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

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.

Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Shiitake + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together292 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shiitake + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,172 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

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

Swap the rosemary

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, mushroom, shiitake, garlic, thyme, pepper, chicken):

Parsleyfits about as well
Rosemarythe original
Marjoramfits about as well
Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, mushroom, shiitake, garlic, thyme, pepper, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Shiitake	1/2 cup (73g)	34
Mushrooms	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Rosemary	1 tsp dried (1.2g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Potato and Shiitake Mushroom Gratin