Name: Salted Corn
Ingredients: Fresh corn, cut from the cob; Coarse sea salt; Water (if needed); Horse-radish tops

Why it works: Horse and radish work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 529 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

Salted Corn

Ingredients

Fresh corn, cut from the cob
Coarse sea salt
Water (if needed)
Horse-radish tops

Directions

Layer uncooked corn in a cask, alternating with layers of coarse sea salt until full.
Place a board on top of the corn and weigh it down with a heavy stone to keep it submerged in brine.
If there isn't enough moisture after 2-3 days, add about 1 pint of water.
Once the cask is full, place horse-radish tops under the board to prevent souring and molding.
Cover the cask with a cloth, tucking it in tightly, then place the board on top.
To use, soak the corn overnight in water to remove excess salt before cooking.

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.

Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together529 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Corn + radishtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together23 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Corn + horsetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).