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 Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the corn, eggs, melted butter, salt, pepper, sugar, and baking powder.
Add flour gradually until the mixture thickens.
Fry and serve
Heat lard in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard and fry until light brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help the fritters hold their shape.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter so the fritters hold their shape while frying.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the fritters as they cook.
- Corn
- Provides the main bulk, sweetness and texture of the fritters.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat that contributes flavor and tenderness.
The step that matters
Drop spoonfuls into hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and becomes greasy instead of crisping. Frying at a steady medium-high heat sets the outside quickly so the fritters stay light inside.
“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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