Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Aiguebelle Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Pound the potatoes until smooth.
Beat the eggs well in a separate bowl.
Add the eggs, Gruyère cheese, butter, pepper, and salt to the potatoes. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.
Fry and serve
Divide the mixture into pieces the size of an Osborne biscuit.
Fry the pieces in boiling fat until golden brown. Serve hot.
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.
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Gruyere cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together323 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Potato + gruyere cheesetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together55 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the main body of the fritters once pounded smooth.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help the fritters hold their shape while frying.
- Gruyère cheese
- Adds savory flavor and some richness to the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer interior texture.
The step that matters
Frying in boiling fat until golden brown. The fat must be hot enough to brown the outside quickly. If it is too cool, the fritters absorb more oil and turn greasy before they set and colour.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gruyere cheese, egg, butter, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits less well
- Asparagusfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against gruyere cheese, egg, butter, pepper. 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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