Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stewed Hominy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the hominy
Wash the hominy and place it in a pot with 2 quarts of cold water.
Slowly heat and boil the hominy gently for about 4 hours, or until soft.
Drain the hominy and let it sit to evaporate excess water.
Make the cream sauce
In a separate pan, melt the butter over low heat.
Gradually stir in the cream or milk until combined.
If using milk, remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks.
Combine and serve
Mix the cream or milk mixture with the hominy and serve immediately.
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.
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Hominy
- Provides the starchy, tender body that makes up the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Cream or milk
- Supplies moisture and dairy richness that coats the hominy.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce gently and add richness when stirred in off the heat.
The step that matters
Stirring egg yolks in off the heat. Egg yolks begin to set around 160°F and can scramble if the mixture is too hot. Removing the pan from heat before adding them lets them thicken the sauce smoothly.
“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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