Name: Corn Fritters
Ingredients: 6 ears of corn or 1 can of corn; 3 eggs; 1 tablespoon melted butter; 2 crushed soda biscuits; salt; pepper

Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Corn Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

If using fresh corn, grate it; if using canned corn, chop it very fine.
In a bowl, combine the corn, eggs, melted butter, crushed soda biscuits, salt, and pepper. Mix all ingredients well.

Cook

Heat a skillet and fry the mixture like griddle cakes until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,324 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Biscuit + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together841 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Corn + biscuittop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together72 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,345 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + biscuittop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,009 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corn: Provides the main bulk and sweetness of the fritters.
Eggs: Bind the mixture together and set during frying to hold the fritters in shape.
Melted butter: Adds fat for richness and helps the fritters brown in the skillet.
Soda biscuits: Crushed biscuits add dry body that helps absorb moisture and hold the batter together.

“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.