Name: Marmalade Pudding
Ingredients: ½ pound bread crumbs; 6 ounces beef suet, very finely chopped; 3 tablespoons loaf sugar; grated rind of 1 lemon; juice of 1 lemon; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 3 eggs, beaten; 3 tablespoons marmalade

Why it works: Bread and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,032 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Marmalade Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Mix the bread crumbs and chopped beef suet together.
Add the sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, and baking soda to the mixture.
Gradually stir in the beaten eggs and marmalade.

Steam and serve

Pour the mixture into a plain mold.
Steam for 3.5 hours.
Serve with wine sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + beeftop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,032 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Bread + lemontop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,445 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

Bread crumbs: Provides the bulk and structure that holds the pudding together.
Beef suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set firm while steaming.
Marmalade: Adds sweetness, citrus flavour and moisture to the pudding.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic lemon juice and marmalade to lighten the texture.