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 ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the potato mixture
Melt the butter and cream in a pan over low heat.
Add the cayenne, pepper, and salt to the melted mixture.
Pass the cooked potatoes through a sieve and add them to the pan.
Stir in the yolks of the eggs until the mixture is dry.
Remove the pan from heat.
Shape and coat
Flour a board and take a tablespoon of the mixture to form long squares about 1 inch thick.
Place the squares on paper.
Cover the squares with egg whites.
Roll the squares in bread crumbs.
Smooth the croquettes with a knife.
Fry and serve
Fry the croquettes in hot oil for 2 minutes.
Drain the croquettes on paper.
Serve the croquettes.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (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, giving the croquettes their soft, starchy interior.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks stiffen the mixture as it dries, and the whites help the bread crumbs adhere.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a smooth texture and flavor.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the potato mixture soft and smooth.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden outer crust when the croquettes are fried.
The step that matters
Stir in the yolks until the mixture is dry. The mixture must be dry enough to hold its shape when formed; if it is too wet, the croquettes will slump and may break apart in the hot oil.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg, butter, pepper, bread):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, 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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