Why it works: Sweet potato and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 414 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Boil, peel, and slice the sweet potatoes.
Layer and bake
Layer the sliced potatoes in a deep pan, alternating with butter and sugar until the pan is full.
Set in a 400°F (200°C) oven to brown.
Sift sugar and grated nutmeg over the top before serving.
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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Sweet potato + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together414 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sweet potato + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,151 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 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
- Sweet potatoes
- Form the bulk of the dish, becoming tender as they cook through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture between the layers and helps the top brown.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top caramelize and brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Set in a 400°F (200°C) oven to brown. Sugar and butter brown quickly at high heat, so the top can scorch before the potatoes are fully tender. Watch the colour and keep the layers moist so the centre cooks through evenly.
“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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