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Breakfast

Breakfast No. 1

A breakfast of graham mush mixed with dates, served with sliced apples, toasted wafers, stewed dried apples and cherries, topped with milk and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,104 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Breakfast No. 1

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the graham mush according to package instructions and mix in the dates.

  2. Toast the wafers until golden brown.

  3. Stew the dried apples with cherries until soft.

Serve

  1. Serve the graham mush with sliced apples on the side.

  2. Serve with milk and cream.

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.

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.

  1. Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,104 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Apple + datestop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together119 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Dates + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together470 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Dates + creamtop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together276 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Graham mush
Forms the hearty base of the muesli and gives it a porridge-like texture.
Dried apples
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture as they soften during stewing.
Cherries
Contribute sweetness and acidity, and soften with the stewed apples.
Dates
Add natural sweetness and chewy moisture to the graham mush.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, softening the flavour and texture of the dish.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, milk, cream):

  1. Strawberryfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, milk, cream. 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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