Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cream of Wheat
Ingredients
Directions
Add salt to boiling water.
Stir in cream of wheat and continue stirring for a few moments to prevent lumping.
Cook slowly over direct heat for 20 minutes or more, or in a double boiler for one hour or more.
Alternatively, place in a tireless cooker for three to four hours.
Serve with cream and sugar.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + wheattop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together681 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Wheat + sugartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,071 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream of wheat
- Provides the starch that thickens the water into a soft, porridge-like texture as it cooks.
The step that matters
Stirring in the cream of wheat. Adding the cereal to water without continuous stirring lets clumps form as the outer grains hydrate first. Stirring for a few moments disperses the grains so they hydrate evenly and the porridge cooks smooth.
“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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