Name: Tilapia and Mashed Yams with Pancetta-Sage Breadcrumbs
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped; 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (from French or sourdough bread with crust, ground in processor); 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage; 2 pounds medium yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), pierced all over with fork; 3 tablespoons butter, divided; 4 5-to 6-ounce tilapia fillets or eight 2-to 3-ounce fillets

Why it works: Yam and sweet potato share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 99 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tilapia and Mashed Yams with Pancetta-Sage Breadcrumbs

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (from French or sourdough bread with crust, ground in processor)
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 pounds medium yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), pierced all over with fork
3 tablespoons butter, divided
4 5-to 6-ounce tilapia fillets or eight 2-to 3-ounce fillets

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1064Calories

44 gProtein

30 gFat

150 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sourdough	1 slice (36g)	93
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Sage	1 tsp ground (0.7g)	2
Yam	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Yam + sweet potatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together99 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sage + sweet potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together62 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sage + yamtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Bread + sagetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,778 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the yam

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sage, sweet potato, butter):

Shallotfits better
Parsnipfits better
Chivefits better
Yamthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sage, sweet potato, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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