Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, eggs, flour, salt, and chopped parsley until well combined.
Shape the mixture into croquettes.
Coat and fry
Dip each croquette in beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs.
Fry the croquettes in a deep kettle of boiling oil until golden brown.
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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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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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Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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
- Mashed potatoes
- Form the bulk of the croquettes and give them a soft, moist interior.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape.
- Flour
- Absorbs moisture and helps the mixture firm up for shaping.
The step that matters
Frying in boiling oil. The oil must be hot enough to brown the coating quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb excess oil and turn greasy before the outside turns golden.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, parsley. 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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