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Pineapple Julep

A chilled pineapple drink mixed with orange juice, raspberry syrup, and Karo corn syrup, served over cracked ice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Pineapple Julep

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Cut the pineapple into quarters and remove the core.

  2. Shred the flesh with a fork and scrape it from the skin using a silver knife.

  3. Place the shredded pineapple in a bowl and strain the juice of the two sweet oranges over it.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the raspberry syrup and Karo Corn Syrup.

  2. Before serving, pour the mixture over cracked ice.

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. Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Pineapple + raspberrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together195 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, sweet).

  3. Orange + raspberrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together521 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Orange + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together586 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Pineapple + corntop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together150 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Pineapple
Supplies the main fruit flavour, juice and soft, shredded body.
Sweet oranges
Add citrus juice and aroma that brighten the sweetness of the pineapple.
Raspberry syrup
Adds sweetness and fruity flavour.
Karo corn syrup
Adds sweetness and a smooth texture by keeping sugar from crystallising.

The step that matters

Pouring over cracked ice just before serving. Ice melts and dilutes the drink, so adding it too early makes the julep watery. Pouring at the last moment keeps the flavour concentrated and well chilled.

Swap the raspberry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, orange, syrup, corn):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Raspberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, orange, syrup, corn. 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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