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 Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make and bake
In a bowl, mix sour milk, baking soda, cornmeal, egg, salt, and melted lard until well combined.
Pour batter into sheets or gem pans.
Bake until golden brown.
Serve
Serve warm.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with baking soda to produce gas that lifts the muffins.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to leaven the batter and help it rise.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body and structure of the muffins and gives their characteristic grainy texture.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets in the oven.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes to browning and flavor.
The step that matters
Mixing the batter. Sour milk and baking soda begin reacting as soon as they meet, so the batter should go into the pans and into the oven promptly to trap the gas and rise well.
“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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