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Bitter Tonic

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Capsicum and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,438 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Bitter Tonic

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Pulverize all ingredients together.

  2. Sift the mixture and mix well.

  3. Take 1 teaspoonful to 1 tablespoonful three times a day.

  4. Alternatively, mix 1 ounce of the mixture into a quart of wine and take ⅓ cup three times a day.

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. Capsicum + clovetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,438 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Capsicum + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,560 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Bayberry + clovetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together0 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together17,182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Bayberry + capsicumtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together0 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Clove and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 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 bayberry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (capsicum, clove, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Cherryfits better
  4. Bayberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against capsicum, clove, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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