Why it works: Flour and raisin 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 ↓
Hunter Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
In a large bowl, combine the flour, suet, raisins, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Stir in the milk or water until well mixed.
Shape the mixture into 1 large roll or 2 small rolls.
Cook
Tie the rolls in pudding cloths and boil for about 2 hours.
Alternatively, steam the mixture in a basin for a moister pudding.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding rich and tender as it cooks.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the pudding rise and lighten.
- Milk or water
- Hydrates the flour so the mixture binds into a dough.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Tie the rolls in pudding cloths and boil for about 2 hours. The rolls must be wrapped snugly and kept at a steady simmer so the dough cooks through without falling apart or going soggy. Steaming in a basin gives a moister result, as the record notes.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, milk):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, milk. 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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