Why it works: Apple and syrup work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 742 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Compote of American Crab-apples
Ingredients
Directions
Leave the stalks on the apples.
Simmer the apples in syrup for 10 minutes.
Dish the apples upright in a serving bowl.
Reduce the syrup and pour it over the apples.
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.
-
Apple + syruptop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together742 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Dried Apple Cake51 recipes