Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Flummery
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oatmeal
Soak the oatmeal in cold water for a day and night.
Pour off the water and add fresh water, soaking for the same time.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
Cook and serve
Boil the strained mixture until it thickens like hasty pudding, stirring constantly.
Once thickened, stir in the sugar and orange-flower water.
Pour into shallow dishes and serve with wine, cider, milk, or cream and 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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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Oatmeal
- Provides the starch that thickens the liquid into a soft, pudding-like set.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the mild, starchy flavour of the oats.
- Orange-flower water
- Adds a floral aroma that flavours the pudding.
The step that matters
Boil until it thickens, stirring constantly. Starch from the oats thickens as it heats and can scorch or form lumps on the base of the pan if left unstirred. Constant stirring keeps the texture smooth and even.
“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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