Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Common Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix together the flour, beaten eggs, and salt.
Gradually stir in enough milk to create a smooth batter.
Fry
Heat lard in a pan until boiling.
Pour batter into the pan and fry until light brown on both sides.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pancake together as it sets.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the pan.
- Milk
- Loosens the batter to a pourable consistency and adds moisture.
- Lard
- Fat for frying that conducts heat and helps the surface brown.
The step that matters
Fry until light brown on both sides. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction and caramelisation at the surface. Flipping too early, before the underside has set, can tear the pancake, while leaving it too long dries it out.
“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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