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Delmonico Potatoes

A baked potato casserole with layers of creamed potatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Delmonico Potatoes

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Delmonico Potatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Assemble

  1. Layer creamed potatoes in a baking dish.

  2. Add a light layer of bread crumbs.

  3. Sprinkle a layer of grated Parmesan cheese.

  4. Repeat layers until the dish is filled.

  5. Dot the top layer with bits of butter.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake until golden brown.

  2. Serve very hot.

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.

  1. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Bread + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Potato + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together572 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Creamed potatoes
Form the soft, starchy bulk of the dish, giving it its body and moisture.
Bread crumbs
Add a light, crisp layer that helps the top brown and texture contrast with the potatoes.
Grated parmesan cheese
Melts and browns on the surface, adding savory flavor and a golden crust.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that promotes browning and a smooth, flavorful top.

The step that matters

Bake until golden brown. Baking long enough lets the cheese and butter brown and the crumbs crisp. Removing it too early leaves the top pale and the layers under-set.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, parmesan cheese, butter):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Onionfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, parmesan cheese, butter. 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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