Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine cold mashed potatoes, melted butter, and eggs.
Mix until well combined and form into rolls.
Coat and fry
Coat each roll with cracker dust or bread crumbs.
Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together434 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Cold mashed potatoes
- Provide the bulk and body that hold the croquette's shape.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture together so the rolls hold their shape while frying.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the potato mixture.
- Cracker dust or bread crumbs
- Form a crisp coating that browns in the hot oil.
The step that matters
Fry in hot oil until golden brown. The oil must be hot enough to crisp and brown the coating quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb oil and turn greasy, and the potato inside can fall apart before the outside sets.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, bread):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, bread. 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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