Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the pudding
In a large pot, combine milk, cornmeal, molasses, butter, salt, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.
Steam the mixture for 2.5 hours.
Finish and bake
After steaming, add 1 quart of cold milk.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 2 hours.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Nutmeg + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Its starch swells as it cooks, thickening the mixture into a firm, spoonable pudding.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and, with the cornmeal, sets into a custard-like texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, deep brown colour and a rich, caramel-like flavour.
- Butter
- Adds fat, which softens the texture and gives a richer mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Steaming the cornmeal mixture. Cornmeal starch only thickens fully after sustained heating, and it needs that time to lose its raw, gritty taste. Stopping early leaves the pudding thin and grainy.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, butter, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon):
- Clovefits better
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, molasses, butter, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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