Why it works: Sugar and pistachio are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,233 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Pistachio Prawlings
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the sugar in a little water.
Boil the mixture until it reaches the soft ball stage.
Add the pistachios to the pan.
Remove the pan from the heat and work the pistachios into the sugar mixture until well combined.
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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Sugar + pistachiotop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,233 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
- Sugar
- Forms the candy base and sets into a firm, sweet mass as it cooks and cools.
- Pistachios
- Provide the nutty flavor and crunchy texture in the finished candy.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it reaches the soft ball stage. Sugar syrup must reach the right concentration to set properly. Stopping too early leaves the candy soft and sticky, while cooking too long makes it hard and brittle.
“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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