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 ↓
Corn Pone
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Mix and rise
Mix together the milk, cornmeal, beaten eggs, lard, and castor sugar.
Set the mixture in a warm place to rise until light.
Bake
Bake in a buttered pan for 15 minutes in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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.
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.
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the batter and gives the pone its structure.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set during baking, giving structure and moisture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the cornmeal so the batter can rise and bake through.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and keeps it moist.
- Castor sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture rise until light. The rise lightens the batter before it bakes. If it is under-risen, the pone will bake up dense and heavy, so the cook should wait until the mixture is visibly light.
“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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