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
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the oatmeal
Soak the oatmeal in cold water for 24 hours.
Pour off the water and add fresh water, soaking for another 24 hours.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
Cook and serve
Boil the strained mixture until it thickens like hasty pudding, stirring constantly.
Stir in the sugar and orange-flower water.
Pour the cooked mixture into shallow dishes.
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
- White oatmeal
- Its starch thickens with heat as it cooks, giving the flummery its body.
- Orange-flower water
- Adds a floral aroma that flavours the pudding.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the mild oat flavour.
The step that matters
Boil until it thickens like hasty pudding. The starch must be cooked long enough to gelatinise and thicken, while constant stirring prevents lumps and scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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