Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Wash and boil or steam the potatoes until tender. If using cold potatoes, skip boiling.
While hot, pass the potatoes through a wire sieve onto a plate.
Make the mixture
In a saucepan, heat the butter and milk until hot, then stir in the sieved potatoes smoothly.
Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks one at a time.
Chop the parsley finely and add it to the potato mixture, seasoning with pepper and salt.
Let the potato mixture cool on a plate.
Shape, coat and fry
Heat the lard in a deep saucepan until hot but not burning.
Form the cooled potato mixture into croquettes or balls.
Beat the egg in a plate, dip the croquettes in the egg, and coat them with bread crumbs.
Arrange the croquettes in a frying basket without letting them touch.
Fry 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.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 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
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy base that becomes the soft, fluffy interior when mashed and cooled.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the mixture a smoother, more tender texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the mashed potato, keeping it pliable for shaping.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and, with the coating egg, help bread crumbs stick and set during frying.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden browned outer crust when fried.
The step that matters
Let the potato mixture cool before shaping. Warm potato mixture is soft and sticky, so croquettes may lose their shape or split. Cooling firms the starch so the balls hold together in the hot fat.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, milk, egg, pepper, bread):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, milk, egg, pepper, 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.
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