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Pineapple Chutney

A sweet and spicy pineapple chutney made with pineapple, brown sugar, vinegar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Pineapple Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cook the pineapple, vinegar, and salt in a pot.

  2. Finely chop the nuts, raisins, garlic, and pepper.

  3. Add the chopped mixture to the pineapple.

  4. Boil down the mixture until it thickens.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Garlic + gingertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

  5. Pineapple + gingertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together559 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Pineapple
Provides the fruit base and bulk, with sweetness and aroma that carry the chutney.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and, as the mixture boils down, helps build a thick, glossy body.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness and helps preserve the chutney.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture once finely chopped into the mixture.
Almonds
Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts with the soft fruit.

The step that matters

Boil down the mixture until it thickens. Long simmering evaporates water so the chutney sets to a spoonable thickness. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while overcooking can scorch the sugars and make it bitter.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sugar, garlic, vinegar, pineapple, ginger, almond):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Cherryfits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sugar, garlic, vinegar, pineapple, ginger, almond. 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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