Name: Frankfurters and Sauerkraut
Ingredients: 60 pounds of frankfurters; 7 gallons of sauerkraut; 1 gallon of water; 2 pounds of dried apples; 1 pound of beef dripping; pepper to taste

Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Frankfurters and Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the frankfurters for 15 minutes.
Wash the sauerkraut in cold water.
Place the sauerkraut in a covered pot with water, dried apples, and beef dripping.
Boil for 30 minutes and season with pepper.

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.

Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Apple + peppertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,026 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Apple + beeftop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,364 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Frankfurters: Provide the main meat, adding savory flavor and fat as they heat.
Sauerkraut: Provides the main body of the dish and its sour, tangy flavor.
Dried apples: Add gentle sweetness that balances the sourness of the sauerkraut.
Beef dripping: Adds fat and richness, carrying savory flavor through the sauerkraut.