Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Balls
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the mixture
Season the mashed potato with coarse sea salt, black pepper, celery salt, chopped parsley, and butter.
Moisten the mixture with a little hot milk or cream.
Beat the egg until light and add part of it to the potato mixture.
Avoid making the mixture too moist.
Shape and bake
Shape the mixture into smooth, round balls.
Brush the balls with the remaining egg and bake on a buttered baking sheet until brown at 400°F (200°C).
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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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 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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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mashed potato
- Forms the bulk of the balls and gives them their soft, tender interior.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and, brushed on top, helps the balls turn golden brown in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, which carries flavor and keeps the interior tender.
- Hot milk or cream
- Adds moisture so the potato mixture can be shaped smoothly.
The step that matters
Avoid making the mixture too moist. Too much liquid makes the potato mixture soft and sticky, so the balls lose their shape and may crack or spread in the oven. Moisten only lightly.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pepper, parsley, butter, milk, egg):
- Dillfits better
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, parsley, butter, milk, egg. 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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