Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Farina Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Cook the milk and farina in a double boiler for twenty to thirty minutes.
Wet the farina with a little cold milk before stirring it into the boiling milk, so it will be smooth; add the salt, and cook to stiffness, or until the milk has evaporated.
Add the cayenne, onion juice, and beaten yolk of egg.
Stir well to mix, and to cook the egg; pour it onto a dish.
When cold, roll it into balls one inch in diameter.
Coat and fry
Roll the balls in crumbs, then in egg (the white and yolk with one tablespoonful of water, beaten only enough to break), and again in white crumbs.
Be sure the balls are completely coated with egg and crumbs, or they will break in frying.
Fry them in hot fat for one minute, or to a light amber color.
Serve
Serve on a napkin, or to garnish a meat dish.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| 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.
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.
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + oniontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,418 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Onion + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,333 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,333 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
- Farina
- Thickens the milk into a stiff mass that holds its shape when cooled and rolled.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the farina swells and cooks in, setting into a firm base.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and, as a coating, forms a seal that holds crumbs during frying.
- Crumbs (in the method)
- Form a crisp, browned outer shell when fried.
The step that matters
Coat the balls completely. Any bare spot lets the soft, starchy centre leak out and break apart in hot fat, so the egg and crumb layers must fully cover each ball.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg):
- Asparagusfits better
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, 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.
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