Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Potato Pie
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.
Prepare
Fry the onions in a little salt pork fat until golden.
Mix the fried onions with the mashed potatoes, summer savory, salt, and pepper.
Add butter and cream to achieve a rich consistency.
Assemble and bake
Place the potato mixture between two pie crusts.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is golden.
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.
-
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Summer savory + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together671 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Onion + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together299 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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 filling and set the soft, sliceable texture of the pie.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the filling a smooth, flavourful mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the potato into a creamy consistency.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and savoury depth once fried golden in the pork fat.
- Pie crusts
- Enclose the filling and brown in the oven, providing structure and a crisp outer layer.
The step that matters
Add butter and cream to achieve a rich consistency. Too little liquid leaves the mashed potato stiff and dry, while too much makes the filling runny and can soak the crust. Adding the cream and butter gradually and checking the texture keeps the filling smooth and spreadable.
Swap the summer savory
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion, pork, pepper, butter, cream):
- Garlicfits better
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Summer savorythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, onion, pork, pepper, butter, cream. 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.
More potato pie recipes
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipes
Roast Pork82 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.