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German Potato Pancakes

German Potato Pancakes are fried grated potato and onion cakes served with apple sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

German Potato Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Grate the potatoes and onion finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine the grated potatoes, onion, eggs, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix until well combined.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

  2. Spoon the mixture into the skillet and fry until brown and crisp on both sides.

  3. Serve with apple sauce.

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.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + olivetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,458 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,779 recipes

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

  4. Olive + appletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,565 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,147 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Provide the starchy bulk that gives the pancakes their body and inside texture.
Eggs
Bind the grated mixture together so the pancakes hold their shape while frying.
Flour
Absorbs moisture from the grated potato and helps the pancakes hold together.
Onion
Adds savory flavor and aroma to the batter.
Sugar
Adds a little sweetness and helps the surface brown in the pan.

The step that matters

Frying until brown and crisp on both sides. Grated potato releases water and starch that can keep the pancakes soft and pale. Frying over sufficient oil at medium-high heat drives off moisture and browns the surface, which gives the crisp exterior.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, egg, sugar, flour, olive, sauce):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, egg, sugar, flour, olive, sauce. 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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