Boston Brown Bread

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. Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together3,721 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together7,155 recipes

   Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).

5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together106,462 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk 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

Buttermilk

Its acidity reacts with the soda to produce gas, helping the bread rise and turn tender.

Cornmeal

Gives the bread its coarse, crumbly texture and yellow colour.

Brown flour

Provides the main structure and the dense, hearty body of the loaf.

Soda

Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release carbon dioxide, which leavens the batter.

Eggs

Bind the batter and add structure as it sets during steaming.

The step that matters