Why it works: Rhubarb and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 177 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Peel and cut the rhubarb stalks into small pieces.
Mix the rhubarb with plenty of sugar, a little nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.
Prepare a pie crust and fill it with the rhubarb mixture.
Bake the pie until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Rhubarb + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together177 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 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
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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