Why it works: Potato and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
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 the pudding
Boil the potatoes until very dry, then mash them perfectly smooth while hot.
Mix in the butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and lemon rind until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 40 to 45 minutes.
Serve with fine sugar sifted over it, or with red currant jelly or any other preserve.
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 + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine mealy potatoes
- Their starch gives the pudding a soft, light body once mashed smooth.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, moist texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set on baking to give a custard-like structure.
The step that matters
Boil the potatoes until very dry. Excess water in the potatoes dilutes the mixture and keeps it from setting firmly, so the potatoes should be dried well before mashing.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, lemon. 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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