Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Best Gooseberry Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fruit
Stem and wash the gooseberries.
In a pot, combine gooseberries, sugar, and water.
Cook until done.
Make the filling
Let the mixture cool.
Once cooled, mix in the egg and cracker meal.
Assemble and bake
Line a pie pan with pie dough and fill it with the gooseberry mixture.
Cover with a top crust and bake at 400°F (200°C) until light brown.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the tart fruit that forms the body of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart fruit and softens its sharp acidity.
- Egg
- Binds the filling and sets as it bakes, holding it together when sliced.
- Cracker meal
- Absorbs fruit juices and thickens the filling so it does not run.
- Pie dough
- Forms the crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before adding the egg and cracker meal. Adding egg to a very hot mixture can scramble it, and cracker meal thickens best once the fruit juices have cooled somewhat. Cooling first gives a smoother, more evenly set filling.
“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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