Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
To Mash Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the potatoes until tender, then peel and remove any specks.
Drain the potatoes and place them over low heat for 2-3 minutes to dry.
Add salt, butter, and enough milk to moisten the potatoes.
Use a rolling pin to mash the potatoes until smooth.
For a richer flavor, substitute cream for butter and omit milk.
Shape the mashed potatoes into a mold or scallop shells, adding bits of butter on top, and brown them under the broiler.
Alternatively, mix the mashed potatoes with a little flour and egg yolk, roll into balls, and brown in a dripping pan under roast meat.
Optionally, mix boiled and pulped onions with the mashed potatoes for added flavor.
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.
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 + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, milk, flour, egg):
- Chivefits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, milk, flour, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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