Name: Plum Pudding Currant Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb suet; 1 lb raisins; 1 lb currants; 1 grated nutmeg; 4 eggs; ½ cup brandy; 1 lb almonds

Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Plum Pudding Currant Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Grease a basin well.
In a cloth, dip in boiling water, wring it out, and dust with flour.
Place the pudding mixture into the cloth, gather the corners, and tie it, leaving room for expansion.
Boil in plenty of water, ensuring it remains covered and constantly boiling.
After boiling, let it stand for a few seconds, remove the cloth, and invert onto a dish.

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 + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,115 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,057 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, nutmeg, egg, brandy, almond):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Apricotfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, nutmeg, egg, brandy, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.