Why it works: Egg and milk 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 ↓
West Point Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Grease the baking pans.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, lard, milk, and salt.
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the cornmeal mixture.
Bake
Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
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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Egg + milktop 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
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the batter, while whipped whites add lift and a light, airy crumb.
- Cornmeal
- Provides the main structure and the characteristic grainy texture of the cornbread.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the cornmeal so the batter can set during baking.
- Lard
- Adds fat, which tenderizes the crumb and contributes to a golden crust.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives rise. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a denser cornbread, so fold gently until just combined.
“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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