Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Aroce Doce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Thoroughly wipe the rice with a dry cloth after picking it.
Cook the rice
Combine the rice and milk in a pot and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Add the sugar and boil until the rice is dry and tender.
Stir in the pounded almonds when the rice is nearly done.
Serve
Transfer the rice to shallow dishes and smooth the surface.
Dust with freshly powdered cinnamon before serving cold.
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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Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Rice + almondtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,456 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carolina rice
- Forms the body of the pudding as its starch thickens and softens in the milk.
- New milk
- Cooks with the rice to provide the creamy liquid that sets the dish.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it thicken as the liquid reduces.
- Blanched almonds
- Add nutty flavour and a slightly firm texture to the soft rice.
The step that matters
Simmering the rice in milk. Rice must cook gently, since high heat can scorch the milk on the bottom of the pot and stick the starch. Slow simmering lets the grains absorb liquid and soften evenly while the milk thickens into a creamy pudding.
“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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