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Potato Croquettes

A fried dish of mashed potato formed into cylinders and coated with breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Potato Croquettes

Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Potato Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix the mashed potato, salt, celery salt, butter, and pepper together.

  2. Form the mixture into smooth balls, then roll them in breadcrumbs.

  3. Shape the balls into cylinders, 1 inch in diameter and 3 inches long.

Fry and drain

  1. Fry the croquettes in deep fat until golden brown.

  2. Drain on brown paper.

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.

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.

  1. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potato
Forms the main body of the croquettes, giving a soft, moist interior.
Egg yolk
Binds the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape while frying.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that browns during frying.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.

The step that matters

Fry in deep fat until golden brown. Frying at a steady hot temperature browns the breadcrumb coating quickly and crisps it before the potato interior overheats or the croquettes absorb excess oil. Overly cool fat makes them greasy and soggy.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Dillfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, 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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