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German Potato Cakes

A savory dish of grated potatoes mixed with onion, egg, milk, and flour, pan‑fried until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

German Potato Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Grate the potatoes and onion.

  2. In a bowl, combine the grated potatoes, onion, egg, milk, and flour.

Cook

  1. Heat lard in a skillet over medium heat.

  2. Pour batter into the skillet to form pancakes.

  3. Cook until golden brown on both sides.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,355 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the pancake, providing starch that gives body and a tender interior.
Egg
Binds the grated potatoes and onion so the batter holds together in the pan.
Flour
Absorbs moisture from the grated potato and helps the pancakes hold their shape.
Milk
Adds moisture to the batter, helping it spread and cook through evenly.
Onion
Adds savory flavor and moisture to the batter.
Lard
Conducts heat in the skillet and browns the outside of the pancakes.

The step that matters

Cooking the batter in hot fat. Grated potato releases water and starch that can make the batter loose and gummy. Frying over medium heat in enough hot fat sets the outside into a crisp golden crust while the inside cooks through.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, milk, flour. 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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