Why it works: Pumpkin and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,158 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pumpkin
Pare and cut the pumpkin into small pieces.
Wash the pumpkin and place it in a kettle with 1 quart of water.
Cook and strain
Boil for 6 hours, stirring often to prevent burning.
Run the cooked pumpkin through a sieve.
Season and store
Mix in 1 teaspoon of ginger and 5 pounded crackers if not using eggs.
Cook enough pumpkin to last for 2 weeks.
After 1 week, place it in the oven to scald, then store in a cool place.
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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Pumpkin + gingertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,158 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pumpkin
- Forms the base of the filling, providing body, sweetness and most of the flavor.
- Pounded crackers
- Add body and help thicken the pumpkin when eggs are not used.
The step that matters
Boil for 6 hours, stirring often. Long boiling with frequent stirring evaporates water and softens the pumpkin, and stirring keeps the bottom from scorching. Without it the purée can taste burnt and turn too thin or uneven.
“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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