Name: Mock Mince Meat Without Meat
Ingredients: 1 cup cold water; ½ cup molasses; ½ cup brown sugar; ½ cup cider vinegar

Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Mock Mince Meat Without Meat

Ingredients

1 cup cold water
½ cup molasses
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup cider vinegar

Directions

Combine cold water, molasses, brown sugar, and cider vinegar in a bowl.
Mix well until all ingredients are fully blended.

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.

Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Molasses + cidertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together470 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,253 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).