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Dessert

Compote of Pineapple

A compote made from pineapple, sugar, orange juice, and optional brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Compote of Pineapple

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the rind and eyes from the pineapple and cut it into slices, not too thin.

Cook the compote

  1. Boil the pineapple with the sugar and orange juice until tender and clear.

  2. Transfer the pineapple to a compote dish.

  3. Boil the syrup until clear and pour it over the pineapple.

Cool and serve

  1. Cool before serving. Optionally, add brandy for extra flavor.

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. Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Pineapple + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together298 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

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

  4. Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,841 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Pineapple
Forms the main body of the compote and carries its fruity flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and syrup, balancing the fruit's tartness.
Orange juice
Adds acidity and bright citrus flavor to the syrup.
Brandy
Adds aroma and a warm, spirited flavor to the finished compote.

The step that matters

Boil the pineapple until tender and clear. Over-boiling breaks the fruit down into mush, while under-boiling leaves it firm and cloudy. Watching for tenderness and clarity keeps the slices intact and the syrup glossy.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sugar, brandy. 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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