Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Stewed Prunes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash prunes thoroughly in warm water.
Add cold water and soak overnight.
Cook and finish
Cook in the soaking water below boiling until tender.
Add sugar and cook for 5 more minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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
- Prunes
- Provide the main body, sweetness and soft texture once softened by soaking and cooking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tart fruit and the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the sweet, dense prunes.
The step that matters
Cook in the soaking water below boiling. Simmering gently below a boil keeps the prunes intact while the dried fruit softens. A rolling boil can burst the skins and break the fruit apart.
“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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