Name: Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients: rhubarb; good pastry; 1 egg white; sugar

Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients

rhubarb
good pastry
1 egg white
sugar

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Skin the rhubarb and cut it into 1-inch lengths.
Line a pie dish with pastry.
Brush the pastry with the egg white.
Layer the rhubarb in the dish, sweetening each layer with sugar.
Cover with a top crust and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
Let cool and sprinkle with sugar before serving.

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.

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.

Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,852 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Rhubarb + eggtop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together570 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).