Name: Baked Hash
Ingredients: 1 pint chopped cooked meat; ½ pint gravy or water; 1 pint chopped raw potatoes; 1 tablespoon melted drippings; Salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Baked Hash

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 pint chopped cooked meat
½ pint gravy or water
1 pint chopped raw potatoes
1 tablespoon melted drippings
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Mix all the ingredients together.
Turn the mixture into a mold.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for one hour.

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.

Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped cooked meat: Provides the main body and savory flavor of the hash.
Raw potatoes: Add bulk and starch that helps the hash hold together as it cooks.
Gravy or water: Adds moisture so the mixture does not dry out in the oven.
Melted drippings: Adds fat for richer flavor and helps the surface brown during baking.