Name: How We Cook in Tennessee
Ingredients: one ounce gelatine in cup cold water one hour; one cup sugar; one pint cream; one cup of boiling water; one cup of sugar; two cups of orange juice; one pint of milk to boil; one tablespoon cornstarch; a cupful of cold water; one lemon; one orange; half box of gelatine soaked in half a cupful of cold water; four eggs very light; salt

Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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.

Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Orange + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,696 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatin: Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when turned out of the mold.
Cream: Adds richness and a light, airy texture when whipped and folded in.
Sugar: Sweetens the mixture and balances the tartness of the fruit juices.
Pineapple (in the method): Provides the main fruit flavour and moisture in the dish.

The step that matters

Fold in the whipped cream while the mixture is cool but not set. If the mixture is still warm, the cream will deflate and the souffle will be dense. If it has already set, the cream will not blend in evenly and will leave lumps. Folding gently keeps the air in the whipped cream.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, milk, lemon, egg):

Vanillafits better
Raspberryfits about as well
Orangethe original
Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, milk, lemon, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

How We Cook in Tennessee