Why it works: Cream and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,789 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Corn Meal Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gruel
Mix two tablespoonfuls of fine Indian meal with cold water and a saltspoonful of salt until smooth.
Add one quart of boiling water and cook for twenty minutes.
Stir frequently; if it becomes too thick, add boiling water to thin.
Finish for the patient
If the stomach is not too weak, add a tablespoonful of cream to cool.
For very sick persons, let the gruel settle, pour off the top, and serve without other seasoning.
For convalescents, toast a piece of bread as nicely as possible, then add it to the gruel with a tablespoonful of sweet cream and a little ginger and sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Cream + breadtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,789 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine indian meal
- Forms the body of the gruel as its starch thickens during cooking.
- Cream
- Adds richness and softens the gruel's flavour when stirred in.
- Bread
- Adds toasted flavour and body for convalescents when stirred into the gruel.
The step that matters
Stir frequently; if it becomes too thick, add boiling water to thin.. Cornmeal starch thickens quickly as it cooks and can settle and scorch on the bottom. Frequent stirring keeps it smooth, and adding boiling water restores a thin, even consistency.
“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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