Name: Potatoes Stuffed, Surprise
Ingredients: Potatoes; Flour (for dusting); Green peas or artichokes (for puree); Lard (for frying); Parsley (for garnish)

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 ↓

Potatoes Stuffed, Surprise

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potatoes as directed in a previous recipe.
On a floured surface, divide the potato mixture into parts and roll into balls about 2 inches in diameter.
Flatten each ball and fill the center with a puree of green peas or artichokes.
Gather the sides to enclose the puree and shape the potatoes into pears, ensuring they are well closed and smooth.
Place them on a floured pan and fry in hot lard, handling carefully.
Drain on a napkin and garnish each with a green stem of parsley to resemble a pear stem.

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.

Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + peastop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,016 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,675 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Peas + parsleytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,885 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,355 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).