Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Ambrosia
Ingredients
Directions
Combine grated pineapple, mashed strawberries, and granulated sugar in a pot.
Cook over low heat until thick, stirring occasionally.
Pour into jelly glasses and seal with paraffin.
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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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated pineapple
- Adds bulk, moisture, and a tart-sweet fruit flavour to the mixture.
- Mashed strawberries
- Adds fruit flavour, colour, and body that cooks down into the spread.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the fruit mixture thicken and set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat until thick. The mixture thickens as water evaporates and the sugar and fruit pectin set. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while cooking too long can scorch the sugar and darken the flavour.
“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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