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 ↓
Whiting, Fried, Economical
Ingredients
Directions
Score the whiting on each side to a depth of ¼ inch with a sharp knife.
Dip the fish in milk and coat well with flour.
Fry the fish in hot fat until crisp and lightly browned, about 6 minutes.
Drain the fish and serve on a hot dish covered with a napkin.
Serve with anchovy, shrimp, or ravigote sauce.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Whiting + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Whiting + milktop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, 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
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