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Potato Croquettes

A fried potato patty coated in beaten egg and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Potato Croquettes

Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the potato mixture

  1. Mash the potatoes with butter, salt, and milk.

  2. Beat in 2 eggs until light and fluffy.

  3. Heat the mixture in a greased saucepan, stirring until it thickens.

  4. Let the mixture cool, then shape it into croquettes.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each croquette in the beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs.

  2. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

  3. Drain excess fat and serve.

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.

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

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

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the mixture and set into a soft, shapeable base.
Eggs
Bind the mashed potato and add structure so the croquettes hold their shape.
Butter
Adds fat for richer flavour and a softer, moister interior.
Milk
Adds moisture so the mashed potato becomes smooth and easy to shape.
Cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browned outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool, then shape it into croquettes.. The mixture must be cool and firm enough to hold its shape; shaping it warm makes it soft and sticky, so croquettes can fall apart in the oil.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, egg):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Chivefits less well
  4. Leekfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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