Name: Corn Fritters
Ingredients: 1 pint grated corn; 2 tablespoons milk; 2 eggs, beaten separately; salt and pepper to taste; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 cup flour; lard for frying

Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓

Corn Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a bowl, combine grated corn, milk, and beaten egg yolks.
Add salt, pepper, baking powder, and flour; mix well.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

Fry

Heat lard in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,955 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,324 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,165 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Milk and flour 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

Eggs: Yolks bind the batter, while whipped whites folded in add lightness and a tender interior.
Flour: Provides the starch and gluten structure that holds the fritters together.
Baking powder: Releases gas during frying, helping the fritters rise and become airy.
Grated corn: Supplies the main body, sweetness and moisture of the fritters.
Milk: Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a spoonable consistency.