Why it works: Apple and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,565 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Apple Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Core, peel, and slice the apples into ¼-inch thick slices.
In a bowl, beat the yolks of the eggs until smooth.
Add the flour and salt to the egg yolks and mix until smooth.
Fry and serve
Heat the olive oil or butter and vegetable oil in a pan.
Dip each apple slice into the batter and fry until light brown on both sides.
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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Apple + olivetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,565 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + olivetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,871 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apple + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,140 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apple + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,461 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Tart apples
- Provide the fruit that is coated in batter and fried until tender.
- 3 large eggs
- Yolks thicken and bind the batter so it coats the apple slices.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the body of the batter that clings to the apple slices.
The step that matters
Frying the battered apple slices. The oil must be hot enough to brown the batter quickly. If it is too cool, the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy before it sets and browns.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, olive):
- Avocadofits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, olive. 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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