Why it works: Sugar and walnut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,147 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Mushroom, in Rock Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare a pasteboard stand in the shape of a pyramid or two drums.
Mix sugar and water in a pan and boil until it reaches the right consistency.
Remove from heat and quickly mix in the iceing with a spatula.
When the sugar rises, let it fall, then pour into a mold instead of a sieve.
Allow to cool and harden before removing from the mold.
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 + walnuttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,147 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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