Name: Banberry Tarts
Ingredients: 2 cups sugar; 1 pound seeded raisins; 2 lemons, grated rind and juice; 4 large soda crackers, rolled fine; 2 eggs; 1 cup English currants

Why it works: Raisin and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,180 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, creamy. The science ↓

Banberry Tarts

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

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.

Prepare the filling

Chop the raisins.
Beat the eggs well.
Mix the raisins, currants, sugar, and eggs thoroughly.
Add the rolled crackers, lemon rind, and juice to the mixture. Combine well.

Assemble and bake

Prepare a rich puff pastry.
Take a large tablespoon of the mixture and place it on one half of the puff pastry.
Fold over the other half and press the edges with a fork.
Bake for 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

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.

Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Eggs: Bind the filling together and help it set as it bakes.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and adds moisture to the fruit mixture.
Seeded raisins: Provide the main body and chewy sweetness of the filling.
English currants: Add concentrated fruit flavour and chewy texture to the filling.
Soda crackers: Soak up moisture and give the filling body so it holds its shape.
Lemons: Add acidity and aroma from the rind and juice to balance the sweetness.