Why it works: Pear and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,079 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Stewed Pears
Ingredients
Directions
Peel, core, and quarter the pears.
In a preserving kettle or saucepan, combine the pears, sugar, and water.
Cover tightly and stew gently for one hour.
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.
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Pear + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,079 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pears
- Provide the fruit base that softens into a tender, stewed texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pears hold a syrupy, rounded flavor as they cook.
- Water
- Creates a liquid that gently simmers the pears so they cook evenly without scorching.
The step that matters
Cover tightly and stew gently. Gentle heat with a tight lid keeps the pears cooking in their own steam and syrup, so they soften evenly without breaking down or scorching on the bottom.
“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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