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Potato, Puree of

A smooth potato puree made with broth or cream, butter, and pepper, served with broiled cutlets.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Potato, Puree of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the puree

  1. Peel and wash the potatoes.

  2. Boil and drain them, then beat them with a fork.

  3. Stir in the broth or cream and pass through a wire sieve.

Finish and serve

  1. Put the puree in a saucepan with the butter and pepper.

  2. Stir over gentle heat until hot.

  3. Pour into the center of a hot dish and arrange broiled cutlets around it.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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

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

  4. Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the main body of the puree once boiled and mashed.
Broth or thick cream
Adds moisture and loosens the mashed potato into a smooth texture.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished puree.

The step that matters

Passing the puree through a wire sieve. Sieving breaks down small lumps and fibers left after mashing, giving a smooth, fine texture. Skipping it leaves the puree grainy or stringy.

“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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