Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt butter, add flour and seasonings, pour on milk and stir until smooth.
Add two-thirds cup grated cheese.
Assemble and bake
Pour over three and one-half cups cold boiled potatoes cut in dice and place in buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle one-third cup grated cheese over top and bake until brown.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cheese | 1 oz (28g) cheddar | 113 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and helps the flour cook into a smooth base.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, spoonable white sauce.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce that coats the potatoes.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce and browns on top for flavor and color.
- Cold boiled potatoes
- Form the bulk of the dish, absorbing the sauce as it bakes.
The step that matters
Stir the sauce until smooth before adding cheese. Flour must be fully mixed into the hot butter and milk so it dissolves evenly; lumps form if the milk is poured in without steady stirring, and the sauce will be grainy rather than silky.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cheese, butter, flour, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits less well
- Chivefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cheese, butter, flour, pepper. 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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