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Potato Timbales

A baked dish of potato puree and choux paste shaped in timbale molds, topped with Parmesan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Potato Timbales

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the molds

  1. Butter small timbale molds and sprinkle the interiors with finely grated Parmesan cheese.

  2. Chill the molds on ice for a few minutes.

Fill and bake

  1. Fill the molds with a well-blended mixture of potato puree and choux paste, seasoned with salt and pepper.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until nicely browned.

Serve

  1. Unmould and serve immediately.

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.

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. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  3. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  4. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Parmesan cheese + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together572 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potato puree
Provides the bulk and soft, moist body of the timbales.
Choux paste
Adds structure and lightness, and helps the timbales rise and set as they bake.
Parmesan cheese
Browns during baking and adds savory, salty flavor to the crust.
Butter
Coats the molds so the timbales release cleanly and the surface browns.

The step that matters

Chill the molds on ice. Cold molds help the butter and cheese coating set firmly, so the mixture does not slump and the timbales release cleanly after baking.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Tomatofits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parmesan cheese, 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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