Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Gems
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Heat the gem pans on the stove until very hot.
Make and bake
In a bowl, combine the flour, cold water, and milk to make a batter.
Fill the hot gem pans evenly with the batter.
Place the filled pans in the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat and bake for an additional 30 minutes on the bottom of the oven.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whole wheat flour
- Provides the structure of the batter and the nutty, wheaty flavor of the gems.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour to form a thin batter that sets into a light, crisp-edged gem.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and milk solids that help the gems brown and give a softer crumb.
The step that matters
Fill the hot gem pans with batter. Pouring batter into hot, greased pans starts cooking the outside immediately, helping the gems rise and form crisp edges instead of sticking or spreading 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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