Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Bael Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the bael fruit into firm slices, about ¼ inch thick, and remove the seeds and surrounding gum.
Soak the slices in cold water.
After preparing all the bael, remove it from the water.
Simmer the slices in a strong sugar syrup over low heat for 30 minutes or until they turn a rich light-brown color.
Once cool, bottle the preserve, ensuring the fruit is well covered with syrup.
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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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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