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Tamale Loaf

A savory loaf made from onion, tomatoes, corn, cornmeal, eggs, milk, olives, chicken, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Tamale Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

  1. In a skillet, fry the chopped onion in olive oil until light brown.

  2. Add the can of tomatoes and cook until soft.

  3. Stir in the can of corn, cornmeal, beaten eggs, and milk.

  4. Mix in the chopped olives, chicken, dissolved pepper, salt, black pepper, and red pepper.

  5. If the mixture seems too thin, add a little more cornmeal.

Bake

  1. Pour the mixture into a well-greased baking pan.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.

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.

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.

  1. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Tomato + chickentop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and help set the loaf as it bakes.
Cornmeal
Provides the bulk and body that gives the loaf its structure.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the cornmeal batter.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity, along with savory flavor.
Chicken
Adds protein and savory flavor to the loaf.
Olive oil
Carries the onion's flavor and adds richness to the base.

The step that matters

Check the consistency before baking. Cornmeal thickens as it sits and absorbs liquid, so a mixture that looks too thin may still set well. If it is truly too thin, a little more cornmeal firms it up and helps the loaf hold its shape when baked.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, tomato, corn, egg, milk, chicken, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, tomato, corn, egg, milk, chicken, pepper. 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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