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 ↓
Another Potato Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the potatoes
Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes into thin slices.
Wash and dry the potato slices.
Coat each slice in clarified melted butter.
Arrange and season
Arrange the slices in circular rows on an oval baking tin, narrowing each row towards the center to form a spiral shape.
Season each row with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Bake
Bake in a very hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until the center melts and the outside is light brown.
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 + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 dish, cooking down to a soft, tender center.
- Clarified melted butter
- Coats the slices, adding richness and helping the outside brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Drying the potato slices before coating. Surface moisture on the slices turns to steam in the hot oven and slows browning. Drying them well lets the butter coat evenly and the outside brown properly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
- Carrotfits less well
- Onionfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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