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Potatoes a LA Maitre D’hotel

A buttery, flour‑coated potato dish simmered in broth, finished with egg yolk, lemon juice, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,855 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the potatoes

  1. Slice the cold boiled potatoes into ¼ inch thick slices.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour, cooking for a minute.

  2. Gradually add the broth or consomme, stirring until it boils.

  3. Add the sliced potatoes, chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, and let them stew for a few minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove from heat and let the boiling stop completely.

  2. Mix the egg yolk with lemon juice and cold water, then stir it into the potatoes.

  3. Return to low heat, ensuring it does not curdle or break the potatoes.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Potato + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,036 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together34,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pepper + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together27,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Potato + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,303 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Enriches the sauce with fat and adds a rich, savory flavor.
Flour
Thickens the broth into a smooth sauce that coats the potatoes.
Broth or white consommé
Forms the liquid base of the sauce and carries its savory flavor.
Egg yolk
Thickens and enriches the sauce, giving it a silky, creamy texture.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances its richness.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolk. Egg yolk thickens through gentle heat, but if the sauce boils after it is added, the proteins scramble and the sauce curdles. Removing the pan from heat first and returning it to low heat keeps the sauce smooth.

“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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