Name: Christmas Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb raisins (stoned); 1 lb currants (cleaned and picked); 1 lb moist sugar; ½ lb sultanas (cleaned and picked); ½ lb peel (shredded); ½ lb almonds (blanched and shredded); ½ lb flour; ½ lb bread-crumbs; ½ lb beef suet (finely chopped); 6 eggs; ½ cup ale (old); Rind of 1 lemon (chopped); ¼ teaspoon salt; Ginger, cloves, nutmeg (to taste)

Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Bread + beeftop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,032 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it cooks.
Flour: Provides structure so the pudding holds its shape after steaming.
Bread-crumbs: Soak up liquid and add a light, tender texture to the pudding.
Beef suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Moist sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps give a dark color.
Raisins: Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Steam for several hours. Steaming gently and for a long time cooks the eggs and starches evenly and sets the pudding through. Too little time leaves it wet and dense, and boiling too hard can make the molds leak or the texture coarse.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, almond, flour, bread, beef, egg):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Coconutfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, almond, flour, bread, beef, 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.

Christmas Pudding