Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Old Time Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot 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).
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal and flour.
In another bowl, combine the sour milk and baking soda.
Make the batter
Add the beaten eggs to the milk mixture, then alternate adding the cornmeal mixture and the milk mixture.
Finally, stir in the melted Cottolene and sugar.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that helps the cornbread rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture to the batter.
- Yellow cornmeal
- Provides the main corn flavour and a coarse, crumbly texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-based structure so the bread holds together.
- Cottolene
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and helps browning.
The step that matters
Alternating the cornmeal and milk mixtures. Adding the dry and wet mixtures in turns keeps the batter evenly combined. Overmixing once flour is in develops gluten and can make the cornbread tough, so stir only until combined.
“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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