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Pairing

Camphor + Mace

A cook's pairing more than a chemical one: 12 recipes use both, though they share little aroma. They rank in the top 36% of all ingredient pairs.

Smell alikelow
Cooked together12 recipes
Ranktop 36% of pairs
Try them in the pairing tool Camphor Mace
18camphor only 3shared 31mace only Camphor · 21 Mace · 34
Circle size = number of flavor molecules on record. Overlap = molecules they share.

Do camphor and mace go together?

Yes, in practice. 12 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 3 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 36% of every ingredient pair we score.

What they have in common

They overlap on 3 flavor molecules: 14% of camphor's 21. So the pairing rests more on how cooks use them than on shared aroma.

What each one brings

camphor

The tartness. Sour notes make up 19% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 3% for mace. It carries 18 molecules mace doesn't have.

mace

The woody side. Woody notes make up 12% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 5% for camphor. It carries 31 molecules camphor doesn't have.

Add a third ingredient

  • Nutmeg: the best fit for both, top 29% of pairs with camphor, top 4% with mace.
  • Clove: top 24% of pairs with camphor, top 6% with mace.
  • Rosemary: top 11% of pairs with camphor, top 18% with mace.
  • Cinnamon: top 25% of pairs with camphor, top 10% with mace.

Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.

Recipes with camphor and mace

We have no browsable recipe that lists both camphor and mace.

Can you swap one for the other?

Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: camphor has 18 molecules mace doesn't, and mace has 31 that camphor 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 3 shared molecules

See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 18 only in camphor and the 31 only in mace.

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Camphor and mace questions

Do camphor and mace go together?

A cook's pairing more than a chemical one: 12 recipes use both, though they share little aroma. They rank in the top 36% of all ingredient pairs.

What do camphor and mace have in common?

They overlap on 3 flavor molecules: 14% of camphor's 21. So the pairing rests more on how cooks use them than on shared aroma.

What goes with camphor and mace?

Nutmeg is the best third ingredient: top 29% of pairs with camphor and top 4% with mace. Clove and rosemary also fit both.

Can I use mace instead of camphor?

Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: camphor has 18 molecules mace doesn't, and mace has 31 that camphor 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

1
2

Two ingredients gives the full side-by-side breakdown; add a third to see a similarity matrix across all of them (up to 6).

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
Plain text
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Camphor vs Mace. https://compkitchen.com/compare/camphor-vs-mace. Accessed 2026-11-04.
BibTeX
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_camphor_vs_mace_2026,
  title  = {Compound similarity analysis: Camphor vs Mace},
  author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/camphor-vs-mace},
  note   = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}

Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.