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A German Method of Cooking Potatoes

A German stew of sliced potatoes simmered in butter, flour, broth, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

A German Method of Cooking Potatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the gravy

  1. Put the butter and flour into a stewpan and stir over the fire until the butter turns a nice brown colour.

  2. Add the broth and vinegar to the pan.

Cook the potatoes

  1. Peel and cut the potatoes into long thin slices.

  2. Lay the sliced potatoes in the gravy.

  3. Let them simmer gently until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

  4. Optionally simmer with a laurel leaf for improvement.

Serve

  1. Serve very hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

619Calories
17 gProtein
1 gFat
132 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,355 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Vinegar + potatotop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,608 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Flour + vinegartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,652 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the browned butter into a gravy that coats the potatoes.
Potatoes
Form the body of the stew, softening as they simmer until tender.
Broth
Provides the liquid base of the gravy and carries its savour.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour of the gravy.

The step that matters

Browning the butter and flour. Stirring over the fire until the butter turns a nice brown colour develops nutty, roasted flavour in the roux. Pulled too early it tastes raw; taken too far it turns bitter.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, vinegar):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Arrowrootfits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, vinegar. 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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