Name: Sweet Potato Croquettes
Ingredients: sweet potatoes; beaten egg; fine bread crumbs; oil for frying; parsley for garnish

Why it works: Sweet potato and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 180 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Sweet Potato Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook and mash sweet potatoes until smooth.
Mix thoroughly with desired seasonings.
Form the mixture into croquettes.
Dip each croquette into beaten egg.
Roll the croquettes in fine bread crumbs.
Fry in deep hot oil until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and serve garnished with parsley.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Sweet potato + parsleytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together180 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,588 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sweet potato + breadtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together67 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,765 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).