Why it works: Orange and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,746 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Curd Pudding, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Drain the curd from the milk and rub it through a sieve.
In a bowl, mix the curd with eggs, cream, orange-flower water, grated nutmeg, flour, bread crumbs, currants, and raisins.
Transfer the mixture into a well-floured thick cloth.
Boil
Boil the wrapped pudding for 1 hour.
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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Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk curd
- Forms the body of the pudding, giving it a soft, dense crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.
- Flour
- Thickens the mixture and helps it hold together when boiled.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and add body to the pudding.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy texture through the pudding.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture through the pudding.
The step that matters
Boil the wrapped pudding for 1 hour. The cloth must be tightly wrapped and floured so the pudding keeps its shape. If water gets in, the pudding turns soggy. A steady simmer keeps the eggs and flour setting evenly without the pudding breaking apart.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, cream, orange, nutmeg, flour, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, cream, orange, nutmeg, flour, bread. 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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