Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Boil water and butter together for a few minutes.
Stir in enough sifted flour to thicken the mixture to the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and let it cool slightly.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add salt and nutmeg to taste.
Fry
Fry spoonfuls of the mixture in hot butter or fat until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Flour
- Thickens the boiled water and butter into a batter that holds its shape.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during frying.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor, and helps the fritters brown in the pan.
The step that matters
Beat in the eggs one at a time. Adding eggs gradually lets each one emulsify fully into the thick batter. Adding them all at once can cause the batter to split or turn lumpy, leaving the fritters with an uneven texture.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg):
- Capersfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg. 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.
More fritters recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.