Name: How We Cook in Tennessee
Ingredients: one pint dainty flour; two tablespoons gran- ulated sugar; one tablespoon of sifted meal; one teaspoon salt; two tablespoons boiling water; one pint buttermilk; one teaspoon soda; one pint pulverized cracker; one gill of milk; one cupful sweet milk; one cup dainty flour; one teaspoon baking powder; one tablespoon half butter; one pint of boiled rice; one pint of corn- meal; one pint of sweet milk; one pint; one spoonful of soda; three spoonfuls of grits used; one teaspoon sugar; half teaspoon salt; half tablespoon butter; one pint sweet milk; one-half cups flour; one tablespoon butter; two teaspoons baking powder; one tablespoon sugar; one cup milk; one pint meal; one cup buttermilk

Why it works: Rice and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 933 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. 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.

Rice + corntop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together933 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Dainty flour: Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it cooks.
Eggs: Add structure and lift, especially when the whites are beaten separately.
Baking powder: Releases gas that makes the cakes rise and turn light.
Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown on the griddle.

The step that matters

Adding the baking powder just before baking. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it is mixed with liquid. Adding it at the last moment keeps that gas in the batter, so the cakes rise well when they hit the hot griddle instead of losing lift while the batter waits.

“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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Cracker	5 saltine crackers (15g)	66
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

How We Cook in Tennessee