Why it works: Wine and pear work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 223 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Macedoine of Fruit
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare wine jelly according to package instructions.
Boil the assorted fruits in syrup, then drain them.
Layer and freeze
In a mold, layer the jelly and fruits alternately, starting with a layer of jelly. Fill the mold after the jelly has begun to set but is not yet firm.
Place the mold in a mixture of salt and ice, covering it tightly. Let it freeze for several hours.
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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Wine + peartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together223 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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Pear + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together254 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Wine + syruptop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together381 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wine jelly
- Sets into a firm, clear layer that holds the fruit in place when unmolded.
- Assorted fruits
- Provide the main flavor and texture, with pieces suspended between the jelly layers.
- Syrup
- Sweetens the fruit and adds moisture as the fruit is boiled.
The step that matters
Fill the mold at the right jelly set. Pour the fruit in after the jelly has begun to set but is not yet firm. If the jelly is too liquid, the fruit sinks and the layers blur; if it is fully firm, the layers will not bond and the fruit may not stay in place.
Swap the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wine, syrup):
- Pearthe original
- Grapefits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Applefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against wine, syrup. 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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