Why it works: Potato and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Grate the raw potatoes and measure 1 quart.
In a bowl, combine the grated potatoes, beaten eggs, flour, salt, and baking powder.
Fry and serve
Heat lard in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard to form flat cakes.
Fry until golden brown, then turn and cook the other side.
Serve hot.
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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
What each ingredient does
- Grated raw potatoes
- Provide the bulk of the cake and its starchy body once fried.
- Eggs
- Bind the grated potato together so the cakes hold their shape.
- Flour
- Absorbs moisture and helps the batter cling together while frying.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the cakes and gives them a little lift.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and promotes browning on the outside of the cakes.
The step that matters
Frying over medium-high heat. The mixture must go into hot lard so the outside sets and browns quickly; cooler fat lets the grated potato absorb grease and turn soggy before the centre cooks through.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour. 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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