Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Portable Hash
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Chop the cold beef and potatoes.
In a large bowl, mix the chopped beef, codfish, and potatoes.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
Add a little butter and mix well.
Bake
Transfer to a baking dish and add a little water to moisten.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until browned.
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.
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold beef
- Provides the main meaty body and savory flavor of the hash.
- Codfish
- Adds a distinct salty, flaky fish flavor and texture throughout the mixture.
- Potatoes
- Supply starchy bulk that binds the mixture and browns on the surface.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the surface brown during baking.
The step that matters
Add a little water before baking. Water added to the dish creates steam that keeps the mixture moist as it heats, so the potatoes cook through before the surface browns too far.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Onionfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, 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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