Name: Stewed Partridges
Ingredients: 1 quart Brussels sprouts; 2 dozen carrot slices; 1 pat of butter; ½ teaspoon sugar; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; Essence from partridge bones; 3 cups Espagnol sauce; ⅓ cup sherry

Why it works: Sugar and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,147 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Stewed Partridges

Ingredients

Directions

Trim and boil Brussels sprouts in salted water for 3 minutes. Strain and cool.
Cut carrots into slices about ⅛ inch thick. Use tin cutters to create rings from the slices.
In a stewpan, combine carrot rings, butter, sugar, and salt. Cover with water and boil until tender.
Strain the essence from the partridge bones.
In a stewpan, combine Brussels sprouts with the essence and gently boil until done. Remove from heat immediately.
Combine remaining essence with Espagnol sauce and sherry. Simmer on low for 30 minutes, skimming as needed.

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.

Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,505 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Carrot + sherrytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

Swap the brussels sprouts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, butter, sugar, sauce, sherry):

Capsicumfits better
Parsnipfits better
Leekfits better
Brussels sproutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, butter, sugar, sauce, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.