Name: Stuffed Potatoes
Ingredients: 3 medium-sized potatoes; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 pinch pepper; 1 egg; 3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Stuffed Potatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Wash the potatoes and cut off one side so they can sit firmly in the oven.

Bake and fill

Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C) or until done, checking with a fork.
Once done, cut off a slice, scoop out the inside, and mash it.
Add salt, butter, pepper, egg, and milk to the mashed potato, then mix well.
Replace the mixture back into the potato skins.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes: Provide the starchy body that is scooped out, mashed, and returned to the skins.
Egg: Binds the mashed potato so the filling holds its shape when returned to the skins.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smoother, softer texture in the filling.
Milk: Adds moisture so the mashed potato becomes creamy and easy to mix.