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Hush Puppies

Hush puppies are little savoury doughnuts and I think they're quite cool. I was told their name comes from the time of the Great Depression, when loads of people were going hungry. When they did get a bit of food, their hungry dogs would hang around whining, so they'd throw these little buns to them to keep them quiet. That might be an old wives' tale, but if it is, I don't care because I like the story. OK, they're not the healthiest things on the planet, but every now and then . . . they're not going to hurt you.

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Hush Puppies

Why it works: Beer and cheddar cheese work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 148 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Hush Puppies

25–30

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

780Calories
22 gProtein
24 gFat
110 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Beer1/4 cup (60ml) for cooking43
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Sweetcornnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By jamieoliver. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Beer + cheddar cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together148 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + cheddar cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,669 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Flour + beertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together781 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sweetcorn + cheddar cheesetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together61 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, beer, sweetcorn, cheddar cheese, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, beer, sweetcorn, cheddar cheese, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.