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Drink

Orange Sherbet

A chilled beverage made with orange, vanilla, pineapple syrups, sherry, grape juice, shaved ice, and carbonated water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Orange Sherbet

Why it works: Vanilla and pineapple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 911 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Orange Sherbet

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In an eight-ounce glass, combine 1 fl. oz. of orange syrup, 1 fl. oz. of vanilla syrup, 1 fl. oz. of pineapple syrup, ½ fl. oz. of sherry wine, and ¼ fl. oz. of grape juice.

  2. Add shaved ice to the glass.

  3. Fill the glass with a coarse stream of carbonated water.

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.

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.

  1. Vanilla + pineappletop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together911 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Pineapple + grapetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together709 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

  3. Orange + pineappletop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  4. Orange + vanillatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,371 recipes

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

  5. Orange + grapetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,771 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Orange syrup
Adds sweetness and citrus flavor to the base.
Vanilla syrup
Adds sweetness and a rounded, aromatic flavor.
Pineapple syrup
Adds sweetness and fruity tang.
Sherry wine
Adds acidity and a deeper, aromatic note.
Grape juice
Adds fruit sweetness and body to the mixture.
Carbonated water
Adds carbonation, giving the drink its fizz and lightness.

The step that matters

Filling with carbonated water. Pouring carbonated water in a coarse stream, rather than quickly, helps limit foaming and keeps more of the dissolved carbon dioxide in the drink, so it stays lively.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, vanilla, pineapple, sherry, wine, grape):

  1. Strawberryfits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, vanilla, pineapple, sherry, wine, grape. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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