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Dessert

Ambrosia

A chilled fruit salad made from apples, blackberries, currants, oranges, peaches, pears, and raspberries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and pear match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 649 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Ambrosia

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and peel the fruit as necessary.

  2. Slice the apples, peaches, and pears.

Assemble and serve

  1. Combine all the fruits in a large bowl.

  2. Serve chilled as a refreshing dessert.

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.

  1. Apple + peartop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together649 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  2. Peach + peartop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together114 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Apple + peachtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together303 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Orange + peachtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together385 recipes

    Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Adds firm texture and a crisp, tart bite to the fruit mix.
Blackberries
Contribute juicy texture and tart, deep flavour to the salad.
Currants
Add tartness and bright acidity that balances the sweeter fruits.
Oranges
Provide juice and acidity that brighten the fruit and add aroma.
Peaches
Add soft, juicy texture and mild sweetness.
Pears
Contribute tender texture and gentle sweetness to the mix.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, orange, peach, pear):

  1. Apricotfits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Cranberryfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, orange, peach, pear. 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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