Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Barley Porridge
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the barley
Wash the barley thoroughly, changing the water multiple times until clean.
Scald the barley or blanch it by boiling in cold water, then rinse.
Cook
In a saucepan, combine the barley and cold milk, just covering the barley.
Stir to a boil and cook for a few minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, and thicken with lentil or pea flour if desired.
Serve
Serve with hot milk and sugar, and add cream for extra richness if desired.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Barley + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together582 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Barley + peppertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Barley + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Whole barley
- Provides the main body and chewy texture of the porridge as it cooks.
- Cold milk
- Cooks with the barley to create a creamy, soft porridge base.
- Lentil or pea flour
- Thickens the porridge when added, giving it a heavier body.
The step that matters
Stir to a boil. Barley starch can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pan while milk heats, so stirring keeps the mixture even and prevents milk from boiling over or sticking.
“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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