Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Mock Oysters of Green Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the grated corn, flour, egg, butter, milk, salt, and pepper until well combined.
Fry and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot butter, shaping them into oblong cakes.
Fry until brown on both sides.
Serve on a platter garnished with parsley.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Grated corn
- Provides the main body and corn flavor of the cakes.
- All-purpose flour
- Binds the grated corn so the cakes hold their shape while frying.
- Egg
- Sets during cooking to help hold the cakes together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the outside brown in the hot pan.
- Milk
- Moistens the batter so it spreads and cooks through evenly.
The step that matters
Frying the cakes until brown on both sides. The batter is loose and wet, so the cakes need enough hot butter and a steady heat to brown and set before they are turned. Flipping too early can break them apart, and too little heat leaves them pale and soggy inside.
“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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