Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the base
Boil corn in water until tender.
Rub butter with flour and let it bubble over heat.
Stir the butter mixture into the corn and boil for 15 minutes.
Finish the soup
Beat the egg and stir it in just before serving. Do not boil after adding the egg.
Season with salt and pepper 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 + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Corn
- Provides the main body, gentle sweetness, and bulk of the soup.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup as its starch swells when cooked in the hot butter and liquid.
- Egg
- Enriches and thickens the soup as it gently sets in the hot liquid.
The step that matters
Do not boil after adding the egg. Egg proteins set at boiling temperature and can curdle, leaving the soup grainy instead of smooth. Stir the beaten egg in off the heat or at a gentle simmer just before serving.
“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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