Name: Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb bread crumbs; ½ lb suet, chopped fine; ½ lb currants; ½ lb chopped apples (more if desired); ½ lb raisins (more if desired); 1 cup sugar; 1 grated nutmeg; 2 oz candied orange peel; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cloves; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 4 eggs, well beaten; 1 cup milk; 1 teaspoon baking soda

Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,686 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,987 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,774 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, apple, raisin, sugar, nutmeg, orange, clove):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Cranberryfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, apple, raisin, sugar, nutmeg, orange, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Chocolate Pudding