Name: Lemon Pudding
Ingredients: ½ pound suet, finely grated; ½ pound grated bread; ½ pound moist sugar; grated rind of 2 lemons; juice of 1 lemon; 2 eggs, well beaten

Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Lemon Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a bowl, combine the suet, grated bread, moist sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice.
Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a mold.

Cook

Boil in water for 1.5 hours.

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.

Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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).
Bread + lemontop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,445 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
Grated bread: Gives body and absorbs moisture so the pudding holds together.
Moist sugar: Sweetens the pudding and adds softness to the crumb.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm pudding.
Lemon: Adds bright aroma and acidity that cut through the rich suet.