Name: Corn Meal Waffles
Ingredients: 3 eggs, yolks separated; 1 quart sour milk or buttermilk; Cornmeal (enough to make a batter thicker than pancake batter); 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in warm water; 3 egg whites, beaten; ½ cup cream; 1 tablespoon butter; 2 tablespoons sugar

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Corn Meal Waffles

Ingredients

3 eggs, yolks separated
1 quart sour milk or buttermilk
Cornmeal (enough to make a batter thicker than pancake batter)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in warm water
3 egg whites, beaten
½ cup cream
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

In a bowl, beat the yolks of the eggs and add the sour milk or buttermilk.
Stir in enough cornmeal to create a batter thicker than pancake batter.
Add the salt and baking soda mixture, then fold in the beaten egg whites.
For the dressing, heat the cream, butter, and sugar in a saucepan until hot.
Serve by placing two tablespoons of the dressing on each waffle.

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.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).