Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Preserved Pineapple Chips, Wet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Remove the top and ends of the pineapple, then slice it into 1/5 inch thick pieces.
In a deep earthen pan, layer sugar at the bottom, followed by a layer of pineapple slices. Repeat layers until the pan is nearly full, finishing with a thick layer of sugar on top.
Cover the pan with paper and let it sit until the sugar is almost melted.
Make the syrup
Boil the pineapple and syrup for 30 minutes, then return them to the pan.
Repeat the boiling process daily for eight days.
After eight days, drain the syrup completely.
If the syrup is too thick, dip the chips in a little water and wipe them dry.
Dry and store
Place the chips on a dry sieve to dry completely.
Dust the chips with powdered sugar using a cloth bag.
Place the chips in the stove until they are no longer sticky.
Store the dried chips in a drawer or box with clean white paper.
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.
-
Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 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
- Pineapple
- Provides the fruit base and its flavour, which concentrates as the chips cook down in syrup.
- Sugar
- Draws moisture out of the fruit and preserves it, giving the chips their sweetness.
The step that matters
Repeated boiling in syrup. Sugar must slowly penetrate the fruit over several days. Boiling too hard or skipping days can leave the pineapple tough or under-preserved, so the syrup should be kept at a steady simmer with the fruit fully covered.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Pineapple Sherbet116 recipes
Pineapple Pudding72 recipes
Pineapple Cream58 recipes
Pineapple Jelly39 recipes