Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fresh Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Mix the grated corn, salt, and pepper together.
If using very young corn, add a small amount of flour; if using old corn, stir in a little milk.
Fry
Heat dippings, cottolene, or lard in an iron skillet until smoking hot.
Drop in small tablespoons of the mixture and brown on each side.
Serve hot.
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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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated corn
- Forms the body of the fritters and supplies the sweet corn flavor.
- Flour (in the method)
- Adds structure to the batter when the corn is very young and moist.
- Milk (in the method)
- Adds moisture to the batter when the corn is old and dry.
The step that matters
Heating the frying fat until smoking hot. Fat that is not hot enough lets the batter soak up oil and turn greasy instead of browning quickly. Starting in very hot fat sets the outside fast so the fritters hold their shape and brown evenly on each side.
“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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