Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Stewed Pears
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pears
Peel and cut pears in halves, leaving stems on, and scoop out the cores.
Place pears in a saucepan, close together, stems uppermost.
Stew and make the syrup
Pour over sufficient water, a cup of sugar, a few whole cloves, some sticks of cinnamon, and a tablespoonful of lemon juice.
Cover the stewpan closely and stew gently until the fruit is done.
Remove the fruit carefully and arrange it on a dish for serving.
While boiling, add a few drops of liquid cochineal or a few slices of beets to color the syrup.
Boil down the syrup until quite thick; strain it and allow it to cool enough to set it; then pour it over the fruit.
Add a teaspoonful of brandy to the syrup for flavor.
Serve
Serve with cream or boiled custard.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Lemon + brandytop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,351 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pears (in the method)
- The main fruit, which softens and becomes tender as it stews in the syrup.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and, as it boils down, thickens it so it can set.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the sweet syrup.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and depth of flavor to the finished syrup.
The step that matters
Boil down the syrup until quite thick. Sugar concentrates as water evaporates, so the syrup must reach a thick consistency to set when cooled. If it is too thin, it will not cling to the fruit or firm up as intended.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy. 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.
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