Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the corn
Score the corn down the center of each row of grains and press out the pulp with the back of a knife, leaving the hull on the cob.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately.
Add the yolks to the corn and mix thoroughly.
Stir in the salt, pepper, and milk.
Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and serve
Brush a pudding dish lightly with butter and pour in the mixture.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for one hour.
Serve as an accompaniment to roast beef or lamb.
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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 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
- Young corn
- Provides the main body and sweetness of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set the pudding into a custard-like structure and add richness.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the mixture.
The step that matters
Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air that gives the pudding lift. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out the air, leaving a denser, flatter result.
“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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