Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Pass the boiled potatoes through a sieve.
Mix in the minced ham, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and chopped parsley.
Incorporate the egg yolks into the mixture.
Shape and fry
Shape the mixture into balls and roll them in bread crumbs.
Fry the croquettes in hot lard until golden brown.
Serve with fried parsley.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boiled potatoes
- Form the body of the croquettes, giving a soft, starchy interior once fried.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture together so the croquettes hold their shape when shaped and fried.
- Minced ham
- Adds savory, salty flavor and a little richness to the potato mixture.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp outer coating that browns during frying.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard until golden brown. If the lard is not hot enough, the croquettes absorb more fat and turn greasy, and the coating may not crisp before the soft interior overheats. Frying at a steady high heat sets the crumb coating quickly and keeps the inside moist.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, nutmeg, pepper, parsley, egg, bread):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, nutmeg, pepper, parsley, egg, 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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