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Potato Pudding, No. 2, with Meat or Fish, Baked

A baked potato pudding layered with meat or fish, bread crumbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Potato Pudding, No. 2, with Meat or Fish, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Steam and mash the mealy potatoes, then season with butter, cream, coarse sea salt, and black pepper.

  2. Butter a baking dish and place a layer of the seasoned potatoes on the bottom.

  3. Add a layer of the finely chopped meat or fish, then alternate layers with the remaining potatoes.

Bake

  1. Finish with a layer of bread or cracker crumbs, adding a few bits of butter and a little water or milk to moisten.

  2. If using fish, stir a beaten egg into the mixture before baking.

  3. Cover with paper and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour.

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.

  1. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

What each ingredient does

Mealy potatoes
Starchy, fluffy body that forms the bulk of the pudding when mashed.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and softening the mashed potato texture.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness to the mashed potatoes, making them smooth and spreadable.
Finely chopped meat or finely picked fish
Provides the savoury filling layer that flavours the whole pudding.
Bread or cracker crumbs
Forms a crisp, browned topping over the baked pudding.
Beaten egg (in the method)
Helps bind the fish mixture so it sets rather than falling apart when baked.

The step that matters

Covering with paper before baking. Covering the dish traps steam so the layers cook through and stay moist, while the crumb topping is still set to brown. Keeping the dish covered for the full bake helps prevent a dry or uneven pudding.

“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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