Name: Lemon Dumplings
Ingredients: ½ lb grated bread; 4 lb chopped suet; ½ lb moist sugar; 2 eggs; 1 large lemon

Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Lemon Dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dumpling mixture

Mix the grated bread, chopped suet, and moist sugar together.
Finely mince the lemon peel and add it to the mixture.
Moisten the mixture with the eggs and strained lemon juice.

Cook and serve

Spoon the mixture into small buttered cups and tie them down.
Boil the cups for 1 hour.
Turn the dumplings out onto a dish, sprinkle with sifted sugar, and serve with wine sauce.

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.

Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Bread + lemontop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,445 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 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

Grated bread: Provides the bulk and structure that holds the dumplings together.
Chopped suet: Adds fat that keeps the dumplings rich and moist as they cook.
Moist sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the dumplings a soft, tender flavour.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set firm when cooked.
Large lemon: Its peel adds aroma and its juice adds acidity and brightness.