Name: Suet Pudding or Dumplings
Ingredients: 6 ounces suet, finely chopped; 6 ounces flour; 2 ounces bread crumbs; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 6 tablespoons milk

Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

Suet Pudding or Dumplings

six dumplings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

Combine the chopped suet, flour, bread crumbs, and salt in a basin.
Beat the eggs, then add the milk gradually, mixing well.
Pour the egg mixture into the basin and stir until combined.

Shape and boil

Divide the mixture into six portions and tie each in a lightly floured cloth.
Boil the dumplings for one hour.
For a pudding, add one more egg, a little more milk, and two ounces of suet, then boil in an earthenware mold for two hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Suet: Melts during boiling, giving the dumplings richness and a light, tender crumb.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the dumplings together while they cook.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help set it as it cooks.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and add body, keeping the mixture from becoming heavy.
Milk: Moistens the dry ingredients so they form a workable batter.

“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.