Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rice
Boil the rice in water until soft.
Drain the rice in a sieve.
Pound the rice in a mortar.
Mix the pudding
Add the egg yolks, butter, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon rind.
Mix well for 20 minutes.
Stir in the cleaned currants until combined.
Cook and serve
Boil the mixture in a pudding cloth for 1.5 hours.
Serve with wine sauce.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the pudding and sets to a soft, tender body as it cooks.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm while cooking, adding richness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and aids browning on the surface.
- Currants
- Add pockets of sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture in a pudding cloth. The cloth must be secured loosely enough for the pudding to swell, yet snugly enough to keep water out. Gentle, steady boiling sets the egg proteins evenly without curdling or waterlogging the pudding.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, egg, butter, sugar, nutmeg, lemon):
- Coconutfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, egg, butter, sugar, nutmeg, lemon. 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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