Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the corn stock
Split the grains of the corn and scrape them off the cobs.
Boil the cobs in enough water to cover for 10 minutes.
Strain the water and measure out 1 quart.
Make the soup
Slowly add 1 quart of cream (or the prepared milk) to the strained water.
Add the scraped corn and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for 15 minutes.
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 + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Corn + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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
- Provides the main sweet flavor and the body of the soup from its kernels and cobs.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk when it is used in place of cream, giving the soup more body.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor, and helps the flour thicken the milk smoothly.
The step that matters
Adding the cream or milk to the stock. Pouring the cream in slowly and keeping the liquid below a hard boil helps prevent curdling and keeps the soup smooth. Dairy proteins can separate when shocked by heat or acid.
“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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