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Potatoes Au Gratin

A baked dish of sliced boiled potatoes layered with a cheese‑flavored sauce and topped with breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Potatoes Au Gratin

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Potatoes Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt the butter or butter substitute in a frying pan.

  2. Add the flour and mix until smooth.

  3. Gradually add the milk, stirring continually until it boils.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, salt, and pepper.

Assemble and bake

  1. In a baking dish, layer some of the sauce, followed by sliced cold potatoes, and repeat, finishing with sauce on top.

  2. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 10 minutes to brown.

  4. Serve in the baking dish.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the dish, holding the layers together and giving a soft, starchy body.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth sauce that coats the potatoes.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it creaminess once thickened.
Cheese
Adds savory flavor and richness to the sauce and helps it brown on top.
Butter
Provides fat for the roux, adding richness and a rounded flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Thickening the milk into sauce. Stirring continually while the milk heats keeps the flour evenly dispersed, preventing lumps. Bringing it to a boil activates the starch so the sauce thickens properly.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, cheese, butter, pepper, bread):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Tomatofits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, cheese, butter, pepper, bread. 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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