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Bubble-and-squeak

A fried dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage or greens, seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Bubble-and-squeak

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and chopped cabbage or greens.

  2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.

Cook

  1. Add the potato mixture to the skillet, pressing it down evenly.

  2. Cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.

  3. Flip the mixture and cook the other side until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes more.

  4. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + cabbagetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together275 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Leftover cooked potatoes
Provide the starchy bulk that binds the cakes and crisps on the outside when fried.
Cabbage or greens
Add moisture, texture and a slightly bitter, vegetable flavour to the mixture.
Butter
Adds fat for frying and browning, and a rich flavour to the crust.

The step that matters

Cook until the bottom is golden brown before flipping. Pressing the mixture down and leaving it undisturbed lets a crust form on the bottom. Flipping too early tears the cake apart, because the crust has not yet set and bound the potato and greens together.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Onionfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, 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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