Name: Baked Native American Pudding
Ingredients: 1/4 cup sugar; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp nutmeg; 4 cup milk; 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal; 1/2 cup raisins; 1/2 cup pancake syrup; 2 tbl margarine, softened; 2 x eggs, beaten

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,324 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal: Its starch thickens the hot milk into a thick, porridge-like base as it cooks.
Eggs: They set as the pudding bakes, binding it into a firm, sliceable texture.
Milk: Forms the liquid base that the cornmeal thickens and the eggs set.
Raisins: Add chewy pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the pudding.
Pancake syrup: Adds sweetness and moisture to the pudding.
Margarine: Adds fat, which gives the pudding a softer, richer texture.

The step that matters

Cooking the cornmeal while stirring constantly. Cornmeal can scorch on the bottom of the pot and form lumps if left alone. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and keeps the starch dispersed as it thickens the milk.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, raisin, syrup, egg):

Cardamomfits better
Clovefits about as well
Allspicefits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, raisin, syrup, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pancake	not in our table	0
Syrup	not in our table	0

Baked Native American Pudding