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 ↓
Boiled Rhubarb Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make a suet crust with ½ lb. of flour according to recipe No. 317 and line a buttered basin with it.
Wash and wipe the rhubarb, string it if old, and cut it into 1‑inch lengths.
Assemble and boil
Fill the basin with rhubarb, add the sugar, and cover with the crust.
Pinch the edges of the pudding together, tie a floured cloth over it, and place it in boiling water.
Boil for 2 to 2.5 hours, then turn it out of the basin and serve with cream and sifted sugar.
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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Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart filling that is cooked until soft within the pudding.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharp flavour of the rhubarb.
- Suet crust
- Forms the enclosing pastry that holds the filling while it steams.
The step that matters
Pinch the edges and seal the cloth. If the crust edges or floured cloth are not sealed well, boiling water can seep in and make the pudding soggy. A tight seal keeps the filling moist and steaming evenly.
“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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