Name: Potato Loaves
Ingredients: mashed potatoes; 1 raw shallot, finely minced; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); 2 tablespoons butter

Why it works: Potato and shallot work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 272 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Potato Loaves

Ingredients

mashed potatoes
1 raw shallot, finely minced
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
2 tablespoons butter

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.

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, minced shallot, black pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Add the butter and mix until well combined.
Shape the mixture into small conical loaves.
Place the loaves under the meat in the oven to brown during the last stages of cooking.

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 + shallottop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together272 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,898 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Shallot + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes: Provide the bulk and starch that give the loaves body and let them hold their conical shape.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a softer texture, and helps the surface brown in the oven.
Shallot: Adds a mild, sharp onion-like aroma and flavor to the potatoes.