Why it works: Milk and egg 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 ↓
Farina Pudding
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.
Make the base
Boil the milk and farina in a pot for 20 minutes.
Mix the cooked farina with the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the powdered sugar.
Drop the egg white mixture on top of the pudding.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Serve
Serve with wine 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 + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Farina
- Thickens the milk into a set, creamy pudding base.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set with a rich texture.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the topping lightness and structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps stabilise the egg whites.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Under-whipped whites will deflate and make the topping flat, while over-whipped whites turn dry and grainy. Folding gently keeps the air trapped so the topping rises and browns lightly in the oven.
“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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