Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Meat Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Make the hash
Combine the cold meat, cold-boiled potatoes, butter, and stock or hot water in a frying pan.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir over medium heat for about 8 minutes, being careful not to burn.
Spread the mixture smoothly in the pan.
Cover and reduce heat to brown slowly for about 30 minutes.
Serve
When done, fold the hash like an omelet and turn it onto a hot dish.
Garnish with points of toast and parsley, and serve hot.
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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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Meat + beeftop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,533 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold meat
- Provides the main body and savory flavor of the hash.
- Cold-boiled potatoes
- Add starch and bulk that help bind the hash and brown on the pan surface.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavor and helps the bottom crisp and brown.
- Stock
- Supplies moisture that softens the potatoes and carries savory flavor through the mixture.
The step that matters
Browning the hash under cover. Covering and lowering the heat slows browning; if the heat is too high the bottom can scorch before the interior heats through, while too little heat leaves it pale and soft. Keep the heat gentle and watch closely.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, beef, butter, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Onionfits about as well
- Capsicumfits less well
- Tomatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, beef, 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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