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 ↓
Potato Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the potatoes
Bake the potatoes at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour.
Scoop out the insides carefully, keeping the skins intact.
Rub the potato pulp through a wire sieve.
Make the filling
Boil a little milk and mix it with the potato, egg yolk, pepper, and salt.
Bake and serve
Fill the potato skins with the mixture.
Bake until the mixture rises above the tops of the skins and serve.
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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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the bulk of the filling and the starchy structure that holds the rise.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps bind the mixture so it sets as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, loosening the potato pulp into a light mixture.
The step that matters
Rubbing the pulp through a sieve. Sieving breaks up lumps and fibres so the potato becomes smooth and airy. Lumps or leftover fibre hinder an even rise and give a dense, grainy texture.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, 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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