Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
To Mash Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Cut out all imperfections from the potatoes and remove the skin.
Soak the potatoes in cold water for 1 hour.
Place the potatoes in an iron saucepan, cover with water, and add salt.
Boil for 30 minutes, or 45 minutes if the potatoes are large.
Mash and serve
Drain the water thoroughly and transfer the potatoes to a wooden bowl.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth.
Melt the butter with the milk and mix it into the mashed potatoes until well incorporated.
Transfer the mash to a serving dish and smooth it with a knife.
Optionally, brown the mash in the oven for added flavor.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Old potatoes
- Starch that breaks down into a light, fluffy mash when cooked and mashed.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the starch for a smooth, silky texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, loosening the mash to a creamy consistency.
The step that matters
Mash and incorporate the butter and milk. Overworking cooked potatoes, especially with a blender or food processor, releases excess starch and turns them gluey. Warm, well-drained potatoes absorb butter and milk more evenly, so mash gently and only until smooth.
“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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