Why it works: Rice and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,779 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Oxford Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the rice in two or three waters and drain well.
Place the rice in a pudding cloth with the currants or sliced apples and grated nutmeg.
Tie the cloth loosely to allow the rice to swell.
Cook and serve
Boil the pudding quickly for about 2 hours until done.
Serve with sweet sauce.
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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Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Currant + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,983 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Rice + curranttop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together497 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carolina rice
- Forms the body of the pudding, softening and thickening as it cooks in liquid.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy bursts of fruit through the rice.
- Apples
- Add tartness and moisture that softens into the rice as it cooks.
The step that matters
Tie the cloth loosely. Rice swells considerably as it absorbs water. A loose tie leaves room for expansion, so the cloth does not burst or squeeze the pudding out of shape.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, nutmeg):
- Coconutfits better
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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