Why it works: Milk and corn 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 ↓
Milk Soup with Corn Starch
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine skim milk and corn starch.
Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
If desired, add dried currants for extra flavor.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Corn + curranttop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together144 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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