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 ↓
Escolloped Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Butter a deep dish and fill with cold sliced potatoes, sprinkling salt over the potatoes.
Scald one quart of milk.
Boil two tablespoons butter on the stove.
Make the sauce
When the butter is boiling, add one-half cup of flour, then stir in the milk gradually until it thickens, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Assemble and bake
Pour the thickened mixture over the potatoes.
Place cracker crumbs on top, mixed with melted butter.
Bake for one-half hour.
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 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
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).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Milk
- Liquid that, thickened with flour and butter, forms the creamy sauce.
- Butter
- Fat that enriches the sauce and carries flavor through the dish.
- Flour
- Starch that thickens the hot milk into a smooth sauce.
- Mashed potatoes
- Starchy base that gives the casserole its body.
The step that matters
Adding the milk to the flour and butter. Flour must be stirred into the hot butter and the milk added gradually. This keeps the starch dispersed so the sauce thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, flour, egg, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, flour, egg, 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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