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 ↓
Potato Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
Peel and boil the potatoes until soft, then mash until smooth.
In a large bowl, mix the mashed potatoes with the flour.
Add the melted lard and beaten eggs to the mixture.
Stir in the yeast and mix until well combined.
Knead the dough until perfectly smooth.
Rise and bake
Place the dough in a pan and rub some lard over the top to prevent hardening.
Let it rise overnight.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown, preferably in loaves.
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.
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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Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the bread together.
- Irish potatoes
- Add moisture and softness to the crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness to the dough.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and helps keep the crumb soft.
The step that matters
Let it rise overnight. Yeast needs enough time to produce gas and develop flavor. Under-proofed dough bakes up dense, while the dough must be covered or lightly greased so its surface does not dry and harden.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg. 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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