Name: The Gravy
Ingredients: one tablespoon of flour; two tablespoons of cold water; one quart of water in an uncovered utensil until tender; one cup of white sauce; one tablespoon of flour to prevent sticking; a teaspoon of salt; 1 c-stock 2 t-flour 1 t-cold water 1/4 t-salt; 2 t-flour 1 t-cold water 1/4 t-salt; 1 t-cold water 1/4 t-salt; 1/4 t-salt; six portions; 2 c-cooked onions 1 c-white sauce cook the onions in one quart of water; 1 c-white sauce cook the onions in one quart of water in an uncovered utensil; 2 c-soft bread crumbs 1/4 t-soda 1/4 t-cloves 1 t-cinnamon 1/4 t-salt 1/2 c-suet; 1/4 t-soda 1/4 t-cloves 1 t-cinnamon 1/4 t-salt 1/2 c-suet 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1/4 t-cloves 1 t-cinnamon 1/4 t-salt 1/2 c-suet 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1 t-cinnamon 1/4 t-salt 1/2 c-suet 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1/4 t-salt 1/2 c-suet 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1/2 c-suet 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1/2 c-molasses 4 t; 1 egg 3/4 c-milk 1/2 c-currants 1/2 c-raisins 1 t-vanilla chop the suet; 3/4 c-milk 1/2 c-currants 1/2 c-raisins 1 t-vanilla chop the suet; 1/2 c-currants 1/2 c-raisins 1 t-vanilla chop the suet; 1/2 c-raisins 1 t-vanilla chop the suet; 1 t-vanilla chop the suet; one-half full; salt; cloves; cinnamon

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,928 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,901 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Clove + molassestop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,483 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Thickens the liquid into a smooth gravy as its starch gelatinizes when heated.

The step that matters

Add the liquid slowly. Adding liquid gradually to the flour-water paste keeps particles separated, so the gravy thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sauce, bread, clove, cinnamon, molasses, egg):

Shallotfits better
Arrowrootfits better
Sweet potatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sauce, bread, clove, cinnamon, molasses, 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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

The Gravy

The Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)