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
Prepare the potatoes
Wash and peel the potatoes, cutting larger ones in half for even size.
Place in a saucepan, cover with hot water, add a little salt, and boil until soft.
Mash and season
Drain the water, cover, and let stand on the range for a few minutes to evaporate moisture.
Press through a potato masher, season with salt and a lump of butter, and stir until mixed.
Beat in enough boiling milk to achieve a creamy consistency.
Serve
Serve in a vegetable dish, neatly formed into a pyramid.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
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 soft, fluffy body once cooked and mashed.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Boiling milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the mash to a creamy consistency without cooling it down.
The step that matters
Drain and let stand to evaporate moisture. Excess water left in the potatoes dilutes the mash and makes it watery. Letting them stand uncovered-steam off moisture so the mash stays thick enough to hold its shape.
“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.
More mashed potatoes recipes
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Potato Chips53 recipes
Sweet Potato Croquettes53 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.