Why it works: Potato and blue cheese share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 50 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells apple, fatty. The science ↓
The recipe
4 to 6 servingsIngredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then crumble.
Cut the red new potatoes into bite-sized pieces, leaving the skins on. Place them in a pot of boiling water and cook 12 to 15 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife.
Whisk the olive oil, white vinegar, salt and ground black pepper together in a large bowl.
Drain the potatoes well and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Add them to the dressing while still warm and toss gently to coat.
Add the chopped green onions, crumbled bacon and crumbled blue cheese. Toss gently to combine.
Serve warm, or chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
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.
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Potato + blue cheesetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together50 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
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Potato + oniontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,019 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + olivetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,688 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Olive + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,843 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Potato + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned 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
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, olive, vinegar, pepper, blue cheese):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
- Mustardabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, olive, vinegar, pepper, blue cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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