Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Egg-nog
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the egg
Separate the yolk and white of the egg.
Add whiskey to the yolk and stir thoroughly.
Mix and finish
Mix in sugar and cold milk.
Fold in the beaten egg white until frothy.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and body, helping the drink feel smooth and creamy.
- Egg white
- Whipped into foam, it adds lightness and a frothy texture.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and creamy moisture of the drink.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the whiskey and egg.
- Whiskey
- Adds aroma and flavor to the drink.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg white gently. The foam comes from air trapped in the beaten white. Stirring vigorously knocks that air out, so folding gently keeps the drink light and frothy.
“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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