Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pineapple, Preserved, for Present Use
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Cut the pineapple into slices ½ inch thick, peel them, and remove the hard core.
Put the peel and hard pieces in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil for 1 hour.
Strain the liquid and add the pineapple slices.
Cook and sweeten
Stew the slices for 10 minutes, then add enough sugar to sweeten.
Boil again for 30 minutes, skimming as needed.
Serve
Serve soon, as it does not keep long.
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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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapple
- Provides the fruit flavour and the slices that become tender as they stew.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it cooks, helps preserve it and thicken the syrup.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar after stewing. Sugar added before the fruit has softened can slow its cooking and toughen the texture. Adding it once the slices are tender lets them absorb the syrup evenly and sweeten without hardening.
“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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