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Drink

Sherbet

A chilled sweet beverage made from boiled rhubarb, raisins or figs, rose water, and orange or lemon syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Rhubarb and orange work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 299 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Sherbet

Ingredients

Directions

Simmer and strain

  1. Boil the water with the rhubarb and raisins or figs for about 30 minutes.

  2. Strain the mixture to remove solids.

Finish and serve

  1. Mix in the rose-water and sweeten with orange or lemon syrup to taste.

  2. Serve cold.

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.

  1. Rhubarb + orangetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  2. Rhubarb + raisintop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together47 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Rose + orangetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together876 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Raisin + orangetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,684 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Rhubarb + rosetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together22 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the sharp, tart flavour that defines the sherbet.
Raisins or figs
Adds natural sweetness and a mellow, fruity depth to the liquid.
Rose-water
Adds a delicate floral aroma.
Orange or lemon syrup
Adjusts the sweetness and adds citrus brightness to balance the rhubarb.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, rose, orange):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, rose, orange. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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