Why it works: Corn and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,168 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Can Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Make the corn mixture
Mix tartaric acid in hot water and combine with the corn.
Heat the mixture until boiling hot, stirring well.
Pack and seal
Pack the corn into glass quart jars, ensuring it is covered with water, and seal.
Soak and sweeten
Take 1 quart of corn, cover with water, and add baking soda, then soak for 10 minutes.
Pour off the soda water and add sugar to taste.
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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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Corn
- Forms the bulk of the dish and supplies its sweet flavour and tender texture.
- Tartaric acid
- Adds sourness and lowers the acidity of the corn mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the acid.
The step that matters
Packing the corn covered in water. Corn left exposed to air can darken and spoil, so keeping every piece submerged in liquid before sealing protects both colour and keeping quality.
“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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