Why it works: Potato and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,481 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Potato Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Bake the potatoes until done.
Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides without breaking the skins.
Make the filling
Season the potato pulp with salt and add enough cream to make it soft.
Beat the mixture until very light and smooth.
Fill and brown
Refill the potato skins with the beaten pulp.
Place the potatoes on a roasting tin and return to the oven to brown the tops.
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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Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy pulp that becomes light and fluffy when beaten, and form the shells.
- Cream
- Adds fat and moisture so the beaten pulp becomes soft and smooth.
The step that matters
Beating the pulp until very light and smooth. Beating incorporates air and breaks up starch-rich pulp evenly, which gives the filling its light, airy texture. Under-beating leaves it dense, while the cream should be added gradually so the mixture stays soft but holds its shape.
“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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