Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Mix the Indian meal and flour together.
Sift the cream of tartar into the flour mixture.
Stir in the milk to create a smooth batter.
Beat the egg yolks and stir them into the batter.
Melt the lard and add it to the mixture.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.
Dissolve the baking soda in a small amount of boiling water and add it last.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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.
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.
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich the batter and whites, beaten stiff and folded in, add lift and a lighter crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar to release gas, helping the cornbread rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that reacts with the baking soda, producing bubbles that leaven the batter.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and helps the surface brown.
- Indian meal
- Cornmeal provides the characteristic corn flavour and the body of the bread.
- Flour
- Gives structure to the batter so the bread holds its shape.
The step that matters
Add the baking soda last, dissolved in boiling water. Baking soda and cream of tartar start releasing gas as soon as they meet liquid. Adding the dissolved soda last, then baking promptly, keeps the bubbles in the batter so the bread rises rather than going flat.
“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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