Why it works: Mango and guava share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 13 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup
Drain all the fruits and reserve the syrup.
Mix all the syrups together, reserve 280 ml, and drain off the remainder.
Put the syrup into a saucepan.
Add the spices and bring to the boil.
Cover the pan and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Uncover and reduce the syrup to half its original volume by boiling for about five minutes.
Remove from heat and allow the syrup to cool.
Keep the pan covered until the syrup is cool (in an open pan some of the flavour will be lost).
Assemble and chill
Reserve a few pieces of peach and guava and all the mangoes.
Arrange the remaining fruits in a serving bowl.
Arrange the mangoes on top, then put in the reserved peach and guava.
Strain the spiced syrup and pour over the fruits.
Cover with cling film and chill.
For a variation, use fresh ripe pear instead of tinned mango.
Can also add one tbsp brandy to the syrup.
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.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Mango + guavatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,027 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + cardamomtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,299 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cardamom + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,058 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Pineapple + mangotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together224 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tinned pineapple chunks
- Provides the main fruit body and sweetness, with syrup that is reduced and flavoured.
- Tinned peach chunks
- Adds soft texture and sweetness to the fruit mix.
- Tinned mango slices
- Adds soft, sweet fruit pieces that hold their shape on top of the bowl.
- Tinned guava halves
- Adds a fragrant, slightly acidic fruit flavour to the salad.
The step that matters
Keep the pan covered while the syrup cools. Leaving the syrup in an open pan lets volatile aromatic compounds from the spices escape, so the syrup loses flavour.
Flavor stand-ins for the guava
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, peach, mango, cinnamon, cardamom, clove):
- Orangebetter flavor fit
- Plumbetter flavor fit
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Guavathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, peach, mango, cinnamon, cardamom, clove. 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).
“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
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.