Name: German Fried Potatoes
Ingredients: potatoes; drippings; coarse sea salt; white pepper; fried parsley for garnish

Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

German Fried Potatoes

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the potatoes in their jackets until tender.
Let them cool, then remove the skins and slice into ½-inch thick pieces.
Heat sufficient drippings in a shallow skillet.
Add the potato slices, season with coarse sea salt and white pepper.
Fry slowly, tossing frequently, until golden brown.
Serve on a hot platter garnished with fried 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.

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.

Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
White pepper + parsleytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,451 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Potato + white peppertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together157 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).