Why it works: Rhubarb and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 670 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix the chopped rhubarb, sugar, egg yolks, flour, and lemon extract until well combined.
If using, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the rhubarb mixture and brown lightly in the oven.
If you prefer, use only one egg for a simpler pie without meringue.
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 + flourtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together670 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together546 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
What each ingredient does
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart flavor and the bulk of the pie filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the tartness of the rhubarb.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling and add richness as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Helps thicken the filling so it holds its shape when cut.
- Egg whites
- Form a light meringue topping that browns lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Spreading and browning the egg white meringue. Beaten egg whites must reach stiff peaks before spreading, since under-whipped whites will weep and fail to hold a topping. Browning them lightly in the oven, rather than over-baking, keeps the meringue tender and prevents it from turning tough or rubbery.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, sugar, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, sugar, egg, flour. 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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