Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stuffed Potatoes
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
Wash and peel the potatoes.
Make a small slit in each potato and scoop out the insides, leaving a shell about ¼ inch thick.
Make the stuffing
In a bowl, mix the scooped potato with the minced onions, ham or pork, butter, parsley, and beaten egg yolks.
Butter the inside of the potato shells and fill them with the stuffing mixture.
Butter a large dish and place the stuffed potatoes in it.
Bake and finish
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
For the mashed potatoes, moisten with milk or cream and add a little salt.
Heap the mashed potatoes on the dish in a pyramid shape and smooth the sides with a spoon.
Brown the top by holding a red-hot spoon over it.
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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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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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 + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the edible shells and the mashed topping that holds the dish together.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the stuffing so it holds its shape when filled and baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the stuffing and helps the shells brown.
- Ham or pork
- Adds savory meaty flavor to the stuffing.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma to the stuffing as they cook.
The step that matters
Leaving the potato shell intact. Keeping the shell about ¼ inch thick gives the potato walls enough strength to hold the filling. A shell that is too thin can tear or collapse during scooping, filling, and baking.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, ham, butter, egg, milk):
- Parsleythe original
- Garlicfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, ham, butter, egg, milk. 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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