Name: Milk Diet
Ingredients: 14 ounces hominy or cornmeal; 16 ounces milk; 12 ounces cooked rice or tapioca; 1 ounce shrimp; 4 ounces bread; ½ ounce butter; 14 ounces cooked cracked wheat or oat grits; 12 ounces toasted bread; 16 ounces milk

Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Milk Diet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Prepare hominy or cornmeal mosh by cooking it according to package instructions.

Serve the day's meals

Serve 14 ounces of the cooked hominy with 16 ounces of milk for breakfast.
For dinner, serve 12 ounces of cooked rice or tapioca with 16 ounces of milk, 1 ounce of shrimp, 4 ounces of bread, and ½ ounce of butter.
For supper, serve 14 ounces of cooked cracked wheat or oat grits with 12 ounces of toasted bread and 16 ounces of milk.

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 + wheattop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,418 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Rice + wheattop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together423 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Hominy or cornmeal: Forms the bulk of the breakfast porridge, providing starchy substance that fills the meal.
Milk: Adds moisture and softness, and makes the starchy grains easier to eat.
Cooked rice or tapioca: Provides soft, easily digested starch as the base of the dinner.
Cooked cracked wheat or oat grits: Supplies the starchy grain base for supper, giving bulk and a soft, porridge-like texture.
Toasted bread: Adds dry, crisp texture and a toasted flavour to contrast with the soft grains and milk.

“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.