Why it works: Pistachio and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 693 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
In a saucepan simmer cherries and rum over medium heat.
Stir and cover to let set for 10 minutes, uncover and cool for 10 minutes.
In a preheated oven
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pistachio + almondtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together693 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Rum + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together727 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + sugartop 3% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together35,031 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + orangetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,371 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Almond + flourtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,450 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vanilla and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the pistachio
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rum, egg, vanilla, almond, orange, sugar, flour):
- Chestnutabout as good a flavor fit
- Hazelnutabout as good a flavor fit
- Pistachiothe original
- Pecansabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against rum, egg, vanilla, almond, orange, sugar, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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