Why it works: Pumpkin and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,404 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity. The science ↓
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Select a first-class, old-fashioned sweet pumpkin with a deep orange center.
Cut a hole in the top the size of a tin cup and remove seeds and stringy parts.
Place the pumpkin in a pan with a wire rack in the bottom.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about four hours or until well done.
When cool, peel and rub the pumpkin through a fine colander.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,404 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pumpkin + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,350 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
Swap the pumpkin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Pumpkinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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