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Tato Sandwiches

A sandwich of roast beef and mashed potato, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Tato Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Spread the mashed potato on both sides of the roast beef slices.

  2. Brush the sandwiches with clarified dripping.

  3. Cover the sandwiches with bread crumbs.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat a frying pan and add the remaining clarified dripping.

  2. Fry the sandwiches until they are light brown.

  3. Garnish with parsley or serve with thick brown sauce.

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.

  1. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  2. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

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

  5. Potato + breadtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together434 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Roast beef
Forms the meat filling that gives the sandwich its savory flavor.
Mashed potato
Adds moisture and a soft texture that cushions the beef.
Clarified dripping
Conducts heat for frying and promotes browning on the bread crumb coating.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp outer crust that browns when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the sandwiches until they are light brown. Fat must be hot enough before the sandwiches go in. Too cool and the crumbs soak up grease and turn heavy; too hot and they darken before the filling warms through.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, bread):

  1. Garlicfits about as well
  2. Pepperfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, bread. 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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