Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Line a pie dish with pie crust.
Wash the tender stalks of rhubarb. Cut the rhubarb into thin slices without peeling.
Fill the pie dish with the sliced rhubarb. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of sugar over the rhubarb.
Assemble and bake
Cover the pie with the upper crust. Make a hole in the center of the crust for steam to escape. Press the edges tightly together.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 45 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rhubarb
- Forms the tart filling and releases juice as it bakes, moistening and flavoring the pie.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart rhubarb and helps draw out its juices to form a syrup.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling to hold its juices and bakes into a golden, sturdy shell.
The step that matters
Make a steam hole and press the edges tightly. Rhubarb releases a lot of liquid as it bakes. The vent lets steam escape so the top crust does not lift or burst, and pressed edges keep the juices inside the pie.
“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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