Why it works: Flour and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine the mashed potatoes with the flour and mix until well combined.
Cook
Shape the mixture into cakes.
Fry the cakes in a hot skillet until golden brown on both sides.
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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Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the moist, starchy body that holds the cakes together.
- Flour
- Binds the mashed potatoes so the cakes hold their shape while frying.
The step that matters
Fry the cakes in a hot skillet. Frying over high heat browns the surface quickly, creating a golden crust while the inside heats through. A cool pan lets the cakes absorb oil and turn greasy and pale.
“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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