Name: Louisville Mint Sherbet
Ingredients: small bunch of fresh mint; juice of 2 lemons; 1 pint of sugar; 1 pint of water; juice of 2 large grapefruits; 1 quart cold water

Why it works: Mint and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,998 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Louisville Mint Sherbet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mint

Pound the mint until bruised.
Add the lemon juice and cover; let it stand for 1-2 hours.

Make the syrup

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water; cook until thick.
Remove from heat and add the grapefruit juice, mint, and lemon juice.
Let the mixture cool, then remove the mint, rinsing it in cold water.
Add the rinsed mint water to the mixture.

Freeze

Pour everything into an ice cream maker and freeze.

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.

Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,998 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lemon + grapefruittop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together184 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Mint + grapefruittop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together35 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + grapefruittop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together309 recipes

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

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Fresh mint: Gives the sherbet its aromatic, refreshing flavor after its oils are released by bruising.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and, cooked into syrup, helps keep the frozen texture smooth.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
Grapefruit juice: Adds citrusy acidity and fruity flavor to the base.