Name: Sweet Apples
Ingredients: 10 pounds apples, pared and quartered; 5 pounds sugar; 1 pint vinegar; spices to taste

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sweet Apples

Ingredients

10 pounds apples, pared and quartered
5 pounds sugar
1 pint vinegar
spices to taste

Directions

Steam the apples until soft.
Combine the apples with sugar and vinegar in a pot.
Cook for a few minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,884 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together16,478 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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

Apples: Form the bulk of the dish and provide pectin that helps it thicken as it cooks.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps thicken and preserve the mixture.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the sweetness.