Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pineapple Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mince the pineapple finely.
In a dish, layer half of the sugar, then spread the minced pineapple over it, and cover with the remaining sugar.
Let it sit between two dishes for 24 hours or longer.
Cook the syrup
Transfer the mixture to a copper or enamelled pan and boil for at least 1 hour, stirring frequently.
If necessary, boil longer until it reduces to a thick liquid, similar to condensed milk.
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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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapple
- Provides the fruit flavour and the liquid that the sugar draws out and reduces into syrup.
- Moist sugar
- Draws juice out of the pineapple and, once boiled down, provides sweetness and thickness.
The step that matters
Boiling down to a thick liquid. Sugar concentration rises as water evaporates, so the syrup thickens gradually. Stirring frequently keeps sugars from scorching on the base of the pan, which would give a burnt flavour.
“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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