Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Stewed Prunes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the prunes in several waters and soak them overnight in cold water.
Stew
Drain the prunes and place them in a stewpan with boiling water to cover.
Boil the prunes, covered, for 10 minutes.
Sweeten to taste.
Simmer until soft but not broken.
If desired, add a little lemon juice for flavor.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Prunes
- Provide the main body, soft texture and sweet dried-fruit flavor of the dish.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tart, concentrated flavor of the prunes.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the stewed fruit.
The step that matters
Simmer until soft but not broken. Prunes held at a gentle simmer soften evenly, while a hard boil can split the skins and break the fruit apart.
“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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