Why it works: Meat and potato work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 786 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Potato Pasty Pan
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Assemble
Trim and season the meat, then pour a small quantity of gravy over it.
Peel and mash the potatoes, then form a crust at least 3 inches thick in a baking dish.
Place the seasoned meat inside the potato crust.
Bake and serve
Bake until the potatoes are nicely browned and the meat is cooked through, about 45 minutes.
Serve with a neatly-folded napkin pinned around the dish.
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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Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together786 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Meat
- Provides the savoury filling that cooks through inside the potato crust.
- Potatoes
- Form the sturdy crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
- Gravy
- Adds moisture so the meat stays juicy while it bakes.
The step that matters
Forming the potato crust. The crust must be at least 3 inches thick so it insulates the meat and gives the filling time to cook through before the potatoes over-brown. A thinner crust can leave the meat undercooked or dry.
“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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