Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Fried Apples for Dinner
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Quarter and core the apples without peeling them.
Heat drippings in a frying pan.
Cook
Place the apples skin side down in the pan.
Sprinkle the apples with brown sugar.
Cook until nearly done, then turn the apples and brown thoroughly.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Firm flesh holds its shape during frying while the skin keeps the quarters intact.
- Hot drippings
- Fat conducts heat quickly to brown the apple surfaces and carries flavour.
- Brown sugar
- Sugar caramelises in the hot fat, adding sweetness and browning to the apple surfaces.
The step that matters
Turning the apples to brown them thoroughly. Apples browned on one side only will look pale and taste less caramelised. Turning after the first side has coloured, once the flesh is nearly tender, lets both cut faces brown evenly without overcooking the centre into mush.
“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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