Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Grape Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the grapes
Squeeze out the grape pulps and place them in one bowl.
Place the skins in another bowl.
Simmer the pulp briefly.
Press the pulp through a colander to separate the seeds.
Combine the skins and pulps in one bowl.
Make the filling
Beat the eggs with the sugar in a separate bowl.
Pour the egg mixture over the grapes.
Bake
Bake uncovered.
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.
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Grape + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,690 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the filling into a custard-like texture as they cook.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the eggs blend into the filling.
- Grape pulp
- Provides the main fruit body and moisture of the filling.
Swap the grape
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Grapethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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