Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Cider Apple Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Peel and quarter the tart apples, then spread them on a plate to dry for no more than 48 hours.
Dilute the cider with an equal amount of water or more if the cider is very strong.
Heat the diluted cider on the stove and let it simmer slowly.
Add a few pieces of apple at a time and cook until just tender but not breaking.
Carefully remove the apples and place them in a dish.
Continue cooking the remaining apples and pour the juice over them before serving.
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.
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.
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Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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