Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Potato Pone
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Grate enough raw potato to measure 1 quart.
Pour 3 quarts of sweet milk over the grated potato to prevent darkening.
Grease and flour a pudding mold.
Make the batter
Beat 2 eggs and add to the mixture along with 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of butter, and a little grated nutmeg.
Bake
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raw potato
- Forms the bulk and body of the pudding as it bakes.
- Sweet milk
- Provides the liquid that moistens the potato and sets into a tender custard.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, smoother crumb.
The step that matters
Pour the milk over the grated potato right away. Grated potato oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, turning grey or brown. Submerging it in milk limits contact with air, so the pudding keeps a lighter color.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar, butter, nutmeg):
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, butter, nutmeg. 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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