Name: Blanche Kammerer
Ingredients: two cups cold cooked corned beef chopped fine; two cups boiled potatoes cubed; one-fourth cup cream; one onion chopped fine; one-half over

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Blanche Kammerer

Ingredients

two cups cold cooked corned beef chopped fine
two cups boiled potatoes cubed
one-fourth cup cream
one onion chopped fine
one-half over

Directions

Combine the corned beef, potatoes, onion, cream, butter, salt, and pepper in a pan.
Fry until the underside is nice and brown.
Fold one half over the other and turn out onto a heated platter.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

506Calories

32 gProtein

21 gFat

47 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44

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

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

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 + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,052 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,481 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + oniontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,827 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Cream and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 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

Corned beef: Provides the savory, salty meat base and the main body of the hash.
Potatoes: Add starch and bulk, and their surfaces brown and crisp during frying.
Onion: Adds aroma and a mild sweetness as it softens and cooks in the pan.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, helping bind the hash and keep it tender.

The step that matters

Frying the underside until brown. Leave the hash undisturbed long enough for the bottom to brown. Browning develops deep, savory flavor through the Maillard reaction and gives a crisp crust. Stirring too early keeps the pan too wet and the hash steams instead of browning.

“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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Blanche Kammerer