Why it works: Horse and radish work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 529 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
Salted Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cask
Layer uncooked corn in a cask, alternating with layers of coarse sea salt until full.
Place a board on top of the corn.
Weigh it down with a heavy stone to keep it submerged in brine.
If there isn't enough moisture after 2-3 days, add about 1 pint of water.
Once the cask is full, place horse-radish tops under the board to prevent souring.
Cover the cask with a cloth, tucking it in around the edges.
Place the board on top.
Use the corn
When ready to use, soak the corn overnight in water to remove excess salt.
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.
-
Horse + radishtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
-
Corn + radishtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together23 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
-
Corn + horsetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh corn
- Forms the bulk of the preserved food, softening as it cures in brine.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the corn by inhibiting spoilage microbes.
The step that matters
Keeping the corn submerged in brine. Corn left above the brine can spoil and mold. The weight keeps every layer under liquid, and adding water if moisture runs low maintains that cover while the salt cures the corn.
Swap the radish
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, horse):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Radishthe original
- Mustardfits about as well
- Potatofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, horse. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
You might also like
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 recipes
Cold Slaw160 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.