Why it works: Corn and buttermilk work together. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 226 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the corn meal and buttermilk together.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little buttermilk and add it to the mixture; beat well.
Add the beaten eggs, oil, and salt; mix until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for 35 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.
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.
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Corn + buttermilktop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Egg + buttermilktop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,986 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn meal
- Forms the bulk of the batter and gives the cornbread its structure and grainy texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help set the crumb as it bakes.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and tang, and reacts with the baking soda to help the bread rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in buttermilk to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Oil
- Adds fat for moisture and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in a little buttermilk and add it to the mixture; beat well.. Baking soda needs an acid, such as buttermilk, to release carbon dioxide. Dissolving and beating it evenly spreads the gas through the batter so the cornbread rises uniformly rather than in pockets.
“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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