Name: Apple Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients: 3 cups lukewarm water; 1 cup tapioca; 5 or 6 large apples; 1 cup water (for steaming apples); Sugar (to taste); Cinnamon (to taste); Whole cloves (a few)

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Apple Tapioca Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Soak the tapioca in lukewarm water overnight or in the morning for a 5 o'clock dinner.
Pare and core the apples, then pack them in a deep dish and add 1 cup of water.

Bake and serve

Cover the dish and steam the apples in a 350°F (175°C) oven until soft, turning occasionally.
Sweeten the apples with sugar, adding a little cinnamon and a few whole cloves.
Pour the soaked tapioca over the apples and bake for 1 hour.
Serve warm, with or without sauce.

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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together16,478 recipes

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

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Tapioca: Swells in soaking water and sets into a thick, spoonable pudding as it bakes.
Apples: Soften while steaming and provide the fruit flavour and moisture of the pudding.
Sugar: Sweetens the apples and balances their tartness.