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Vegetable Loaf

A baked loaf made with carrots, onion, potatoes, flour, olive oil, and water, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Vegetable Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the carrots.

  2. Grate the onion.

  3. Prepare enough raw potatoes to fill a large cup.

Make the base

  1. Combine the flour and olive oil in a pan. Mix well.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring until browned.

  3. Add the water. Stir until smooth and cooked.

  4. Remove from heat.

  5. Season with salt and pepper.

  6. Add the chopped vegetables.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour two-thirds of the mixture into an unbuttered baking dish. Spread it around the bottom and halfway up the sides to form a thick crust.

  2. Prepare an ordinary turkey dressing. Pour it into the baking dish.

  3. Spread the remaining mixture over the top.

  4. Bake for about 45 minutes.

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.

  1. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Potato + olivetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,458 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the mixture and, cooked with oil, helps it set and brown.
Olive oil
Adds fat for richness and helps the flour cook into a smooth roux.
Carrots
Add sweetness, colour and moisture to the loaf.
Potatoes
Add starch and body, helping the loaf hold its shape.
Onion
Adds aroma and savoury flavour.

The step that matters

Cook the flour and oil until browned, stirring. Cooking flour in fat until browned develops flavour and thickens well, while stopping early leaves a raw floury taste and a weaker set. Stirring prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, potato, flour, olive, pepper, turkey):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, potato, flour, olive, pepper, turkey. 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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