Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Flummery
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the oatmeal
Soak the oatmeal in enough cold water to cover it for 24 hours.
Drain the water.
Add fresh water and soak for another 24 hours.
Strain through a fine sieve.
Cook and serve
Add salt.
Boil until thick, stirring constantly.
Stir in sugar and orange flower water.
Pour into shallow dishes.
Serve with milk or sugar.
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 + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Small white oatmeal
- Forms the thick body of the flummery as its starch swells and sets during boiling.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the flavour of the oatmeal.
- Orange flower water
- Adds a floral aroma to the dish.
The step that matters
Boil until thick, stirring constantly. Oatmeal starch can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred. Constant stirring keeps the starch dispersed and heats it evenly, so it thickens smoothly as the starch gelatinises.
“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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