Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Stewed Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Stew the corn
Stew the corn in its own liquid by placing the vessel in hot water.
If the corn is very dry, add a little cold water.
When tender, pour in enough milk to cover the corn and bring to a boil.
Finish and serve
Roll the butter in flour and add it to the corn along with salt to taste.
Stew gently for three to four minutes, stirring well.
Transfer to a deep dish, keeping the vessel covered while cooking to preserve color.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Forms the body of the dish and becomes tender as it stews.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and creaminess as it covers and simmers with the corn.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the finished corn.
- Flour
- Coats the butter so it blends in and lightly thickens the milky liquid.
The step that matters
Bringing the milk to a boil. Milk can scorch or form a skin on the bottom of the vessel if overheated. Gentle heat and frequent stirring keep the milk smooth and prevent sticking.
“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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