Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Black Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Mix the flour, sweet milk, molasses, beef suet, raisins, baking soda, and tartaric acid (dissolved in a little milk) in a large bowl.
Pour the mixture into a suitable mold.
Boil for four hours.
Serve
Serve with hot sauce.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + beeftop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the pudding.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat, which gives the pudding a rich, tender texture.
- Raisins
- Adds sweetness and chewy pieces throughout the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the tartaric acid to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with the baking soda to release gas, helping the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Dissolve the tartaric acid in milk before mixing. Baking soda and tartaric acid must be well distributed in the batter so they react evenly and produce gas throughout. Dissolving the acid first helps it blend in fully.
“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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