Why it works: Bread and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,997 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Bread Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Heat hot fat in a frying pan.
Drop small pieces of bread dough into the hot fat.
Fry until golden brown.
Dust with powdered sugar and nutmeg or serve with maple syrup.
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 + nutmegtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,997 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sugar + maple syruptop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,252 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Nutmeg + maple syruptop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together306 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Bread + maple syruptop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together31 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Sugar and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,364 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
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, maple syrup):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Gingerfits about as well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, maple syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More bread fritters recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Brown Bread Pudding47 recipes