Why it works: Buttermilk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Indian Meal Griddle Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Scald the cornmeal, but do not make it too wet.
Add the buttermilk and salt, then let it stand overnight.
In the morning, add the flour and baking soda dissolved in hot water.
If the batter is too thick, thin it with a little buttermilk.
Cook
Bake well.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body and gives the cakes their grainy, sturdy texture.
- Buttermilk
- Adds tang and moisture, and its acid reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the buttermilk's acidity to produce gas that lightens the cakes.
- Flour
- Adds structure and helps the batter hold together during cooking.
The step that matters
Scald the cornmeal without making it too wet. Hot liquid softens the cornmeal's starch so it absorbs moisture and becomes tender. Too much liquid makes the batter loose and the cakes heavy or slow to set.
“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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