Why it works: Corn and parsley work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 943 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Corn Timbales
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.
Prepare the batter
Beat the eggs until light.
Add salt, oil, cracker dust, and grated corn; mix well.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into oiled timbale molds dusted with parsley.
Place the molds in a baking pan filled with boiling water.
Cover with oiled paper and cook in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes.
Serve with tomato 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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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Egg + corntop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs set the custard-like timbale as they cook, holding its shape.
- Cracker dust
- Absorbs liquid and gives the timbale body and a soft, binding structure.
- Green corn
- Adds sweetness, moisture and flavor to the mixture.
The step that matters
Baking in a water bath. Setting the molds in boiling water surrounds them with gentle, even heat. This keeps the eggs from overcooking, which would make the timbales rubbery or cracked.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, corn):
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, corn. 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.
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