Name: Rich Frying Batter
Ingredients: ½ pound fine flour, sifted; 2 tablespoons pure olive oil; ½ pint tepid water (⅓ boiling, ⅔ cold); ¼ teaspoon salt; whites of 4 eggs (or 3 if large); pepper (optional)

Why it works: Olive and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,263 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Rich Frying Batter

Ingredients

½ pound fine flour, sifted
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
½ pint tepid water (⅓ boiling, ⅔ cold)
¼ teaspoon salt
whites of 4 eggs (or 3 if large)
pepper (optional)

Directions

In a basin, combine the flour and salt.
Gradually add the olive oil, mixing well.
Slowly incorporate the tepid water, working in some flour at a time.
Beat the mixture thoroughly until smooth.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the batter just before frying.

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.

Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + olivetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,871 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Olive + eggtop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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

Delicate Cake246 recipes

Boiled Frosting69 recipes

Citron Cake68 recipes

Scotch Cake63 recipes

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Rich Frying Batter