Corn Meal Pudding

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.

1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together9,075 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

3. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together6,180 recipes

   Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Currant + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together693 recipes

   Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 meal

Thickens the milk into a firm, sliceable pudding body as it cooks.

Eggs

Set the custard, giving the pudding structure as it bakes.

Milk

Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds moisture and richness.

Sugar

Sweetens the pudding and helps brown the sprinkled top.

Currants

Add chewy pockets of fruit sweetness through the pudding.

The step that matters

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, butter, flour, vinegar, chocolate, raisin):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Figfits better
3. Coconutfits better
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, butter, flour, vinegar, chocolate, raisin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.