Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Corn-bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick 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) and grease your baking pans.
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix together the sour milk, beaten eggs, and sugar.
Stir in the flour and cornmeal, then add the melted lard.
Dissolve the baking soda in a few drops of boiling water and add it to the mixture.
Beat the batter hard for several minutes.
Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20 to 30 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.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as the bread sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acidity to release gas, helping the cornbread rise.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the cornbread holds its shape once baked.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the cornbread its characteristic grainy texture and corn flavour.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a moist, rich crumb.
The step that matters
Beat the batter hard for several minutes. Vigorous beating develops gluten in the flour, which gives structure, but overmixing can make the bread tough. Beat enough to combine well and build some structure, then bake promptly so the baking soda's gas is not lost.
“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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