Mace + Currant
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,791 recipes, and they share 5 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Do mace and currant go together?
Yes. 1,791 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 5 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 12% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
They overlap on 5 flavor molecules: 15% of mace's 34. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and beta-pinene (pine, resin). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
mace
The herbal side. Herbal notes make up 31% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for currant. It carries 29 molecules currant doesn't have.
currant
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 25% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 12% for mace. It carries 38 molecules mace doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Allspice: the best fit for both, top 7% of pairs with mace, top 10% with currant.
- Nutmeg: top 4% of pairs with mace, top 16% with currant.
- Clove: top 6% of pairs with mace, top 15% with currant.
- Red currant: top 23% of pairs with mace, top 5% with currant.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with mace and currant
Mostly mains: 3 of the 4 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: mace has 29 molecules currant doesn't, and currant has 38 that mace doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 5 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 29 only in mace and the 38 only in currant.
Mace and currant questions
Do mace and currant go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 1,791 recipes, and they share 5 flavor molecules: the top 12% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do mace and currant taste good together?
They overlap on 5 flavor molecules: 15% of mace's 34. Among the shared key aromas are alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine) and beta-pinene (pine, resin). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with mace and currant?
Allspice is the best third ingredient: top 7% of pairs with mace and top 10% with currant. Nutmeg and clove also fit both.
What can you make with mace and currant?
Mostly mains: 3 of the 4 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Mixed Meat, Sauce for Venison, Beef, or Any Meat, Sauces for M'Bats, Stewed Water Turtles, or Terrapins.
Can I use currant instead of mace?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: mace has 29 molecules currant doesn't, and currant has 38 that mace doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Mace vs Currant. https://compkitchen.com/compare/mace-vs-currant. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_mace_vs_currant_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Mace vs Currant},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/mace-vs-currant},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.