Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Assemble and bake
In a bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, minced onion, chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and new milk until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish.
In a separate bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the egg yolk and spread this mixture over the potato layer.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is 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.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mashed potatoes
- Form the soft, moist body of the pie.
- New milk
- Adds moisture and helps the potato mixture stay smooth and creamy.
- Egg yolk
- Binds the breadcrumb topping and helps it set and brown.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until the top is golden brown. Baking time is given as a range, so the top should be checked by colour. Browning comes from Maillard reactions at the surface, and the egg yolk in the crumb topping helps it brown evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, parsley, pepper, milk, egg):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, parsley, pepper, milk, egg. 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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