Name: Oranges and Apples, Compote of
Ingredients: 6 sweet apples; 3 oranges; syrup (see below for preparation)

Why it works: Apple and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Oranges and Apples, Compote of

Ingredients

6 sweet apples
3 oranges
syrup (see below for preparation)

Directions

Rub the skins of the apples and oranges with a soft cloth.
Cut the apples and oranges into very thin round slices.
Arrange the slices alternately in a circle in a glass dish, overlapping them slightly.
Pour a prepared syrup over the arranged fruit.
Serve when cold.

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.

Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,230 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + syruptop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together742 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Orange + syruptop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,179 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).