Name: Swedish Rice Porridge
Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked rice; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 cups milk; 1 2-inch stick cinnamon; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 blanched almond; 1 cup light cream; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; additional milk (optional); additional sugar (optional); additional cinnamon (optional); 2 eggs, beaten; 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Why it works: Cinnamon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,514 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice: Starch that softens and thickens into the porridge as it simmers in the milk.
Milk: Liquid that cooks with the rice, giving the porridge its creamy body and mild sweetness.
Light cream: Adds richness and fat, making the porridge smoother and more velvety.
Butter or margarine: Adds fat for richness and a silkier mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Milk scorches easily on the bottom of a pan. Low heat and occasional stirring keep the rice and milk from sticking and burning while the starch slowly swells and softens the grains.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Swedish Rice Porridge