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 ↓
Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain and steam them dry.
Peel the potatoes while hot and remove any specks.
Press the potatoes through a colander or mash them with a wooden fork until smooth.
Finish and serve
In a saucepan, melt a slice of butter with a few tablespoons of milk or cream.
Add the potatoes and sprinkle with salt, stirring over low heat until well mixed and hot.
Serve immediately, or shape in a buttered mold and brown under the fire.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starch that gives mashed potatoes their soft, fluffy body once mashed smooth.
- Good butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the potato starch for a smoother, silkier texture.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and loosens the mash, making it creamy rather than stiff.
The step that matters
Steam the potatoes dry before mashing. Excess water dilutes the mash and makes it gluey or loose. Draining and steaming off surface moisture lets the potatoes take in butter and milk properly, giving a fluffier texture.
“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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