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To Mash Potatoes

A simple mashed potato dish made with boiled potatoes, butter, cream or milk, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Henrietta Latham Dwight · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Mash Potatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the potatoes carefully.

  2. Drain from the water.

  3. Mash fine.

Finish and serve

  1. Add a heaping tablespoonful of butter to the four good-sized potatoes.

  2. Add a tablespoonful or two of cream or rich milk.

  3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Serve at once.

  5. They must be freshly mashed and very hot to be eatable.

  6. The mashed potatoes may be squeezed through a vegetable ricer, when they are called Potatoes a la Neige.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

269Calories
5 gProtein
12 gFat
38 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 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.

By Henrietta Latham Dwight. 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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the dish, giving it its starchy, fluffy body when mashed.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, smoothing the texture and carrying flavor.
Cream or rich milk (in the method)
Adds moisture and creaminess, loosening the mash into a smooth consistency.

The step that matters

Mash while freshly cooked and very hot. Potato starch sets and the mash turns gluey and stiff as it cools, so it must be mashed and served very hot to stay light and smooth.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Carrotfits less well
  4. Onionfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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