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 ↓
Mashed Potatoes
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
Peel the potatoes and soak them in cold water for 30 minutes.
Steam the potatoes over boiling water until tender.
Mash and season
Mash the potatoes in a warm bowl using a potato masher.
Season with coarse sea salt and add a generous piece of butter.
Mix in 1 cup of rich milk until well combined.
Transfer to a deep dish and smooth the top.
Finish and serve
For a crispy top, place in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
Alternatively, score the top with a fork and bake until browned.
For frying, mold the mashed potatoes, immerse in hot lard, and fry until golden brown.
Garnish with curled parsley leaves before serving.
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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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starch that gives mashed potatoes their fluffy, soft body when cooked and mashed.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel, and helps browning on the top.
- Rich milk
- Adds moisture and creaminess, loosening the mash into a smooth, spreadable texture.
The step that matters
Mix in 1 cup of rich milk until well combined.. Overmixing warm mashed potatoes ruptures starch cells and releases starch, which makes the texture gluey. Stir just until the milk is absorbed and the mash is smooth.
“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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