Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine milk, eggs, salt, and enough flour to create a thick batter.
Beat the mixture well until smooth.
Fry
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into hot lard and fry until golden brown.
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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during frying.
- Flour
- Provides the starch and gluten that thicken the batter and give the fritters body.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to loosen the batter and contributes to browning in the hot fat.
- Lard
- Conducts heat to cook the batter quickly and gives the outside its golden browning.
The step that matters
Frying in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisping. Too hot and the outside browns before the centre sets. Steady heat gives a golden crust and a fully cooked interior.
“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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