Why it works: Potato and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine cold mashed potatoes and beaten eggs.
Form the mixture into patties.
Roll each patty in flour or bread crumbs.
Fry
Heat lard or bacon grease in a pan over medium‑high heat.
Fry the patties until golden brown on both sides.
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.
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold mashed potatoes
- Provide the bulk and body that hold the patties together.
- Eggs
- Bind the potato mixture so the patties keep their shape.
- Flour or bread crumbs
- Form a dry coating that helps the outside brown and crisp when fried.
The step that matters
Fry the patties until golden brown on both sides. Patties need enough hot fat to brown quickly and form a crust before they fall apart or absorb excess grease. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs surface heat and a dry coating.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour. 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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