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 Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Score each row of corn grains with a sharp knife and press out the pulp with the back of the knife.
In a bowl, combine the corn pulp, salt, pepper, and the yolks of the eggs.
If using young corn, add the pastry flour; if not freshly picked, add the sugar.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and the yolks until very light, then mix them together.
Cook and serve
Heat a griddle and add a small piece of butter and lard to coat the surface.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the hot griddle, shaping them like oysters.
Cook until brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side.
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.
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour and butter 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
- Whites beaten stiff add lift and a light, airy texture to the fritters.
- Corn
- Provides the bulk and sweet flavour of the fritter, with moisture from the pulp.
- Pastry flour
- Adds body to the batter when the corn is young and milky, helping the fritters hold together.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning when the corn is not freshly picked.
The step that matters
Folding the beaten whites into the batter. Whites beaten stiff trap air that gives lift; if they are deflated during mixing, the fritters turn out dense and flat.
“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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