Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potato Pasty
Ingredients
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.
Prepare
Cut the meat into small pieces and place it at the bottom of a pan.
Season the meat with pepper and salt, then add the broth or gravy and the butter broken into small pieces.
Top and bake
Fill a perforated plate with nicely mashed potatoes mixed with a little milk, and finish the surface in an ornamental manner.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 40 to 60 minutes until the potatoes are covered with a delicate brown crust.
Serve
Serve immediately with a napkin folded around it.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rump steak or mutton cutlets
- Provides the meat filling, which becomes tender as it cooks in the broth.
- Mashed potatoes
- Forms the topping that crisps and browns in the oven.
- Weak broth or gravy
- Adds moisture so the meat cooks gently and stays juicy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the potato crust brown.
- Milk
- Loosens the mashed potatoes so they spread smoothly over the filling.
The step that matters
Baking until the crust is delicate brown. The potato topping browns through dry heat and the Maillard reaction, which needs a dry surface. Baking too briefly leaves it pale, while overbaking can dry out the meat below.
“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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