Why it works: Rhubarb and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,852 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Strip the skin from the rhubarb and cut it into small pieces.
Place the rhubarb in a saucepan with a little water and stew until soft.
If there's excess water, drain it off and add sugar to taste.
Beat the eggs until light and stir them into the rhubarb until it fills one pie plate.
Bake and finish
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake.
Use the egg whites to frost the top of the pie.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rhubarb + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together570 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
- Tender rhubarb stalks
- Forms the main body of the filling and supplies its tart flavour.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the rhubarb.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the filling body and structure; whites can also form the frosting.
The step that matters
Beat the eggs until light and stir them into the rhubarb. Beaten eggs thicken and set as the pie bakes, so the filling holds together. If excess water remains in the rhubarb, the filling stays loose and watery, so drain it first.
Swap the rhubarb
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Rhubarbthe original
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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