Name: Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup tapioca; 1 quart milk; 1 cup white sugar; 2 eggs; 1 egg-sized piece of butter; nutmeg to taste; raisins to taste

Why it works: Nutmeg and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓

Tapioca Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Soak the tapioca in milk.
In a large bowl, combine the soaked tapioca, milk, sugar, eggs, butter, nutmeg, and raisins.

Steam

Pour the mixture into a steamer and steam for 2 hours.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,155 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,685 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Tapioca: Thickens the pudding as its starch swells and gelatinizes during cooking, giving it a soft, chewy body.
Milk: Provides the liquid that the tapioca absorbs and softens in, and adds richness and body.
Eggs: Add protein that sets during cooking, giving the pudding structure and a custard-like richness.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the mild, starchy flavour of the tapioca.
Butter: Adds fat for a smoother mouthfeel and rounder flavour.