Why it works: Rice and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,611 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Gooseberry Dish
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the gooseberries
Boil the gooseberries in water until tender.
Strain the mixture through a sieve and sweeten to taste.
Thicken and serve
Mix the rice flour with the gooseberry juice and stir into the pot.
Boil while stirring continuously until thickened.
Pour into a dish that has been wet with cold water.
Serve with sweet cream.
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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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Rice + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,399 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green gooseberries
- Provide the tart flavour and the fruit juice that forms the body of the pudding.
- Rice flour
- Thickens the juice as its starch swells and sets when boiled.
The step that matters
Boil while stirring continuously until thickened. Rice flour starch can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pot or form lumps if left unstirred. Constant stirring keeps the starch dispersed while it swells and thickens the liquid evenly.
“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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