Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Soda Biscuits
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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk.
Rub the lard into the flour until well combined.
Make and shape the dough
Mix the flour, buttermilk mixture, and salt together until a dough forms.
Roll out the dough to about 1 inch thick and cut into biscuits.
Bake
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet and bake until golden.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the biscuits together as they bake.
- Buttermilk
- Moistens the dough and its acidity reacts with the baking soda to help the biscuits rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the buttermilk to produce gas, helping the biscuits rise.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to tenderise the crumb and add richness.
The step that matters
Rub the lard into the flour until well combined. Fat must be evenly distributed among the flour so it coats the proteins and limits gluten development, keeping the biscuits tender rather than tough.
“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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