Why it works: Flour and buttermilk 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 ↓
Steamed Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, buttermilk, baking soda, salt, and melted lard in a large bowl.
Beat the mixture well.
Pour the mixture into a buttered mold.
Steam and bake
Place the mold in a steamer over a pot of boiling water.
Steam for 1½ hours.
Transfer the mold to a 350°F (175°C) oven and bake for about 10 minutes.
Serve warm.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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 of the bread and gives it its corn flavour and grainy texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-based structure so the bread holds together after steaming.
- Buttermilk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the cornmeal and gives a tangy, tender crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of buttermilk to produce gas that helps the bread rise.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning at the surface.
The step that matters
Steaming the batter. The mold must be sealed over steadily boiling water for the full steaming time, because the cornbread sets and rises through gentle moist heat. If the water boils dry or the steam drops, the centre can stay wet and dense.
“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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