Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Potato Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mash the boiled potatoes with butter, milk or cream, salt, and pepper.
Form the mixture into balls.
Coat and fry
Roll the balls in flour, then dip in beaten egg, and coat with bread crumbs.
Fry in butter or dripping until light brown, or use a Dutch oven for browning.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boiled potatoes
- Provide the starchy base that mashes into a soft, cohesive mixture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that makes the mash smooth and gives the fried coating flavor and browning.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture so the mashed potato becomes soft and easy to shape.
- Egg
- Binds the breadcrumb coating so it adheres and crisps during frying.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden outer layer when fried.
The step that matters
Fry in butter or dripping until light brown. Frying at a moderate heat until light brown lets the crumb coating crisp and color while the potato inside heats through. Too hot and the coating browns before the interior warms; too cool and the balls absorb fat and turn greasy.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, pepper, flour, egg, bread):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, pepper, flour, egg, bread. 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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