Name: Indian Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup cornmeal; 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 teaspoon ginger; 1 cup boiling water; 1 cup syrup or molasses; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 cups milk

Why it works: Cinnamon and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,655 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Indian Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the pudding

In a pot, combine cornmeal, milk, and boiling water to create a mush.
Stir in cinnamon or ginger, syrup or molasses, and salt.
Pour the mixture into a greased pan.

Bake and serve

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for two hours.
Serve with sauce.

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.

Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Cinnamon + syruptop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together990 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Syrup + milktop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,143 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal: Thickens the milk into a mush and gives the pudding its body and grainy texture.
Milk: Provides liquid and richness, and its proteins and sugars help the pudding brown and set in the oven.
Syrup or molasses: Adds sweetness, deep flavour and moisture, and helps the pudding darken as it bakes.
Cinnamon or ginger: Adds warm aromatic spice that flavours the pudding.

“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.