Name: Schmidt Test Diet
Ingredients: 2 cups milk; 2 cups cocoa (prepared from 1 oz. cocoa powder, 1 oz. sugar, 1 cup water); 1 cup oatmeal; 1 oz. butter; 1 egg; 4 oz. chopped beef; 1 oz. butter (for broiling); 8 oz. potato broth (made from 6 oz. mashed potatoes, 1/3 cup milk, 1 oz. butter)

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Schmidt Test Diet

Ingredients

2 cups milk
2 cups cocoa (prepared from 1 oz. cocoa powder, 1 oz. sugar, 1 cup water)
1 cup oatmeal
1 oz. butter
1 egg
4 oz. chopped beef
1 oz. butter (for broiling)
8 oz. potato broth (made from 6 oz. mashed potatoes, 1/3 cup milk, 1 oz. butter)

Directions

Prepare

Drink 2 cups of milk or cocoa prepared from 1 oz. cocoa powder, 1 oz. sugar, and 1 cup of water.
Prepare 1 cup of oatmeal gruel with 1 oz. butter, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of water, adding 1 strained egg.
Broil 4 oz. of chopped beef rare with 1 oz. of butter.
Add 8 oz. of potato broth made from 6 oz. of mashed potatoes, 1/3 cup of milk, and 1 oz. of butter.

Repeat the meals

Repeat the morning and forenoon meals in the afternoon and evening.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,052 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Cocoa + cocoa powdertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together171 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Milk + cocoatop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together643 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Milk: Provides liquid and body for the gruel, broth and drink, adding richness and softness.
Oatmeal: Thickens the gruel as its starch swells in the hot liquid, giving it a smooth, soft body.
Egg: Adds protein that helps bind and thicken the gruel as it sets with heat.
Chopped beef: Supplies protein and meaty flavor, and stays juicy when cooked only briefly.
Butter: Adds fat for richness, mouthfeel and flavor in the gruel, beef and broth.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cocoa, cocoa powder, sugar, butter, egg, beef):

Potatothe original
Capsicumfits about as well
Onionfits less well
Tomatofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cocoa, cocoa powder, sugar, butter, egg, beef. 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.