Name: Corn Bread. No. 1
Ingredients: ¾ cup white or yellow cornmeal; 1¼ cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons butter or ¼ cup oil and 2 tablespoons butter; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 2 large eggs, beaten; 1½ cups whole milk; sugar (optional)

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Corn Bread. No. 1

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make and bake

In a bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar if using.
Add melted butter or oil and beaten eggs, then stir in the milk until combined.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal: Gives the cornbread its characteristic grainy texture and corn flavor.
All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that holds the bread together as it bakes.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the cornbread rises and becomes light.
Eggs: Add structure and richness, helping the batter set as it bakes.
Whole milk: Hydrates the dry ingredients and adds moisture and tenderness.
Butter: Adds fat for richness, tenderness, and flavor.

“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.