Name: Rolled Oats and Corn Bread
Ingredients: 2 cups rolled oats; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup cornmeal; 2 cups chopped raisins; 2 cups boiling water; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 cups barley flour or rice flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs

Why it works: Oats and barley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 224 recipes. Both carry 2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Rolled Oats and Corn Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 the batter

Grind the rolled oats using a meat grinder and measure after grinding.
Pour boiling water over the oats and cornmeal, and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Add the barley or rice flour, beaten eggs, molasses, raisins, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

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.

Oats + barleytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together224 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Raisin + barleytop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together57 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Oats + raisintop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together218 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Raisin + eggtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,556 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 as they set in the oven.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses to help the loaf rise and lighten.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture to the crumb.
Barley flour or rice flour: Provides the flour base that gives the loaf its body.
Rolled oats: Soaked in boiling water so they soften and add moisture and chewiness.

The step that matters

Soaking the oats and cornmeal in boiling water. The oats and cornmeal need time to absorb the hot water and swell. Skipping or shortening the 30-minute rest can leave the grains hard and the loaf gritty and dense.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oats, molasses, barley, egg):

Vanillafits about as well
Raisinthe original
Pumpkinfits about as well
Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against oats, molasses, barley, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Barley Wheat Bread6 recipes

Cornbread345 recipes

Bread Pudding336 recipes

Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes

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Rolled Oats and Corn Bread