Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potato Pasty
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Cut the meat into small pieces and place it at the bottom of a pan.
Season with pepper and salt, then add the gravy and butter broken into small pieces.
Top and bake
Put on the perforated plate with its valve-pipe screwed on.
Fill the space to the top of the tube with nicely mashed potatoes mixed with a little milk.
Finish the surface in an ornamental manner.
Bake until the potatoes are covered with a delicate brown crust, about 40 to 60 minutes.
Serve
Serve immediately with a napkin folded around it.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 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
- Rump steak or mutton cutlets
- Provides the meat filling, which becomes tender and flavorful as it cooks in the broth.
- Weak broth or gravy
- Adds moisture and savory flavor, keeping the meat juicy during baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that enriches the savory filling.
- Mashed potatoes
- Forms the topping, which browns in the oven to a golden crust.
- Milk
- Softens the mashed potatoes so they are smooth enough to pipe and shape.
The step that matters
Filling the tube to the top. Packing the mashed potato firmly and evenly leaves no gaps, so the crust bakes uniformly and the potato holds its shape rather than slumping or cracking.
“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.
More potato pasty recipes
You might also like
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Haricot Mutton59 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.