Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Slice cold boiled potatoes and place them in a sauté pan with butter.
Cook until browned on both sides.
If desired, roll the potatoes in flour for a crisp crust.
For raw potatoes, slice or cut into desired shapes and soak in cold water for 30 minutes.
Dry the potatoes well on a napkin.
Immerse in hot fat until cooked through, avoiding overcrowding the pan.
Fry until they reach an amber color, then drain on paper.
Keep in a warm oven until all are cooked and serve immediately.
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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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).
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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