Why it works: Egg and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes as desired and form them into balls.
Roll each ball in beaten eggs, then coat with bread crumbs.
Fry the croquettes in hot lard using a wire basket until golden brown.
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.
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Potato + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together434 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the soft, starchy body that holds the croquette together.
- Beaten eggs
- Bind the coating so the bread crumbs stick to the outside.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden shell when fried.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and browns the crumb coating.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the coating absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisp. Holding the croquettes in a wire basket lets them drain and keeps the coating from steaming.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, bread):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against 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.
More potato croquettes recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Bread Omelette60 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.