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Fried Farina of Corn Meal, Ramequin

A fried cornmeal polenta dish served with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fried Farina of Corn Meal, Ramequin

Ingredients

Directions

Make the polenta base

  1. Cook the Farina according to package instructions.

  2. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and grated Parmesan cheese.

  3. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and sugar, and mix well.

  4. Moisten a pan with cold water.

  5. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture to spread out.

Shape the rounds

  1. Place a small amount of grated Parmesan or a piece of Gruyere cheese in the center of each.

  2. Cover each with a thin layer of the mixture and let cool.

  3. Cut out round shapes using a cutter about the size of a dollar.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each piece in beaten eggs.

  2. Coat with bread crumbs.

  3. Heat clarified butter in a frying pan.

  4. Fry the pieces until golden brown on both sides.

Serve

  1. Serve on a napkin with fried parsley as a garnish.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  4. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Farina
Forms the thick base that sets firm when cooled, so the rounds can be cut and hold their shape.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the polenta mixture.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and helps the mixture bind and brown during frying.
Eggs
Coat the rounds so the bread crumbs stick and form a crisp, golden crust.
Bread crumbs
Form a crunchy, browned outer layer when fried.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool before cutting. The mixture must cool and firm up fully so it sets. If cut while warm, the rounds stay soft and can lose their shape or break during dipping and frying.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parmesan cheese, pepper, nutmeg, sugar, egg, bread):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Clovefits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parmesan cheese, pepper, nutmeg, sugar, egg, bread. 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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