Why it works: Potato and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 9,019 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
The recipe
(8 servings)Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a baking dish with the butter set aside for greasing.
Peel and thinly slice the potatoes. Slice the onion thinly. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, drain on paper towels, and crumble.
In a bowl, stir together the Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley.
Layer one third of the potatoes in the dish and season lightly with salt and pepper. Scatter one third of the onion, bacon, and cheese mixture over the top. Repeat two more times.
Warm the half and half and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, but do not let it boil. Pour evenly over the layers.
Dot the top with the cut butter pieces and cover the dish tightly with foil.
Bake covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender when pierced and the top is golden.
Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Potato + oniontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,019 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Swiss cheese + parmesan cheesetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together151 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + parsleytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, potato, onion, pepper, swiss cheese, parmesan cheese, milk):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
- Celeryabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, potato, onion, pepper, swiss cheese, parmesan cheese, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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