Why it works: Rhubarb and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 276 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
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.
Prepare the filling
Stew the rhubarb until tender.
Add the grated rind and juice of the lemon, yolks of the eggs, and sugar; mix well.
Line a pie tin with the crust and fill it with the rhubarb mixture.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the crust is brown.
Make the meringue and finish
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, then add powdered sugar and vanilla; mix until combined.
Spread the meringue over the top of the pie and return to the oven until light brown.
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 + vanillatop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together276 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together546 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Lemon + vanillatop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 flavour and bulk that forms the body of the filling.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the filling as they set, and whites whip into the meringue topping.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the tart rhubarb and helps soften its fibres during stewing.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sweet filling.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the whipped whites, stabilising and sweetening the meringue.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites must be beaten until they hold firm peaks, because the air they trap sets the meringue. Under-beaten or greasy whites will weep or stay soft. Adding sugar gradually helps them hold their shape.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, egg, sugar, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, egg, sugar, vanilla. 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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