Name: Suet Pudding
Ingredients: ½ pound suet, chopped fine; ½ pound sugar; ½ pound bread, grated; rind of 2 lemons; 4 egg yolks; 1 egg white; butter (for greasing); a few raisins

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Suet Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Grease a basin with butter.
Place a few raisins at the bottom of the greased basin.

Make and steam the pudding

In a bowl, combine suet, sugar, grated bread, lemon rind, egg yolks, and egg white.
Pour the mixture into the basin and cover the top with a paper.
Steam for 3 hours.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + raisintop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Suet: Adds richness and a moist, tender texture as it melts during steaming.
Egg yolks: Bind the mixture and add richness and structure as the pudding sets.
Egg white: Helps lighten the mixture and gives it structure as it sets.
Grated bread: Provides body and absorbs moisture, giving the pudding its crumb.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and contributes to the pudding's flavour.