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Mashed Jerusalem Artichokes

A simple mash of boiled Jerusalem artichokes, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Jerusalem artichoke and butter work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 267 recipes. Both carry ethyl decanoate, which smells grape, waxy. The science ↓

Mashed Jerusalem Artichokes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the artichokes in salted water until tender.

  2. Drain and press the water from them.

  3. Mash the artichokes with a fork until smooth.

  4. In a saucepan, combine the mashed artichokes with butter, white pepper, and salt.

  5. Stir over heat until heated through and serve.

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.

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. Jerusalem artichoke + buttertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together267 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

  2. Butter + white peppertop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Smell alikelow
    Cooked together20 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

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

What each ingredient does

Jerusalem artichokes
Form the main body of the purée, providing starch and a mild, earthy flavour.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and a silkier mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Pressing the water out of the artichokes. Jerusalem artichokes hold a lot of water after boiling. Removing it before mashing keeps the purée thick rather than loose and watery when it is reheated with butter.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against jerusalem artichoke, butter. 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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