Name: Rhubarb Fritters
Ingredients: Rhubarb; French batter (see page 130); Butter for frying; Powdered sugar for serving

Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Rhubarb Fritters

Ingredients

Rhubarb
French batter (see page 130)
Butter for frying
Powdered sugar for serving

Directions

Cut rhubarb into pieces.
Prepare French batter according to the recipe on page 130.
Heat butter in a frying pan.
Dip rhubarb pieces into the batter and fry until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove fritters and drain on a napkin.
Sprinkle powdered sugar generously over the fritters before serving.

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.

Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,852 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Rhubarb + buttertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).