Why it works: Potato and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,456 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Peel and mash the potatoes.
Add the eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately, and mix well.
Beat the mixture for 15 minutes.
Bake and serve
Butter a plain mold and stick it with candied peel.
Pour in the pudding mixture and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.
Turn out and serve immediately, or steam over fast-boiling water for 1 hour.
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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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide starch and body, giving the pudding a soft, sliceable structure.
- Eggs
- Set the mixture when baked and add richness and structure; whites beaten separately add lightness.
The step that matters
Beat the eggs in separately and mix well. Beaten egg whites trap air that helps the pudding rise and stay light, while the yolks add richness. Folding them in gently and thoroughly keeps the mixture even so it sets uniformly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter):
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter. 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.
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