Why it works: Chicken and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,666 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Chicken Corn-pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Stew the chickens in gravy until just done.
Shave the corn off the ears with a sharp knife and scrape out the heart.
Assemble and bake
In a deep baking pan, layer corn, chicken with gravy, and repeat until all ingredients are used.
Cover with corn, pour in remaining gravy, and place a small lump of butter on top.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until the corn is cooked.
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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Chicken + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,666 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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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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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chickens
- Provide the main protein, which becomes tender as it stews in the gravy.
- Corn
- Forms the layered filling and adds sweetness and tender texture when baked.
- Gravy
- Supplies moisture and seasoning that keeps the chicken and corn from drying out.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that helps the top brown and flavour the dish.
The step that matters
Stew the chickens until just done. Overcooking the chicken makes its proteins tight and dry, and it will dry out further in the oven, so stop once it is just cooked through.
“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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