Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the shredded suet, flour, beaten eggs, and salt.
Add milk gradually until the mixture is moist but not too wet.
Cook and serve
Transfer the mixture to a pudding cloth or mold.
Boil for 4 hours in a pot of water.
Serve cold, cut into slices, and broil if desired.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding rich and moist as it cooks.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add richness and structure.
- Milk
- Adds moisture so the mixture forms a soft, workable batter.
The step that matters
Adding the milk. Milk should be added gradually so the mixture stays moist but not too wet. Too much liquid makes the pudding soggy and loose, while too little leaves it dry and crumbly after the long boil.
“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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