Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the cakes
Mix the well-beaten egg with the seasoned mashed potatoes.
Mold the mixture into cakes.
Dip each cake in melted butter.
Brown and serve
Brown the cakes in a 350°F (175°C) oven on a buttered pan, or sauté in butter or bacon fat.
Garnish with parsley before serving.
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 + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mashed potatoes
- Form the bulk of the cakes and give them their soft, tender interior.
- Egg
- Binds the mashed potato so the cakes hold their shape.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and richness and helps the outside brown.
The step that matters
Browning the cakes. The cakes are already cooked potato and only need surface browning. Too little fat or heat leaves them pale and soft, while too much heat can scorch the butter before the surface sets.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, parsley. 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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