Name: Artificial Milk
Ingredients: ½ pint water; 1 ounce cane or grape sugar; ½ ounce dry egg white; 15 grains carbonate of soda; 1 to 2 ounces olive oil or other pure fat; ½ pint water (additional); 30 grains gelatin (optional)

Why it works: Grape and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,110 recipes. Both carry cis-2-hexenal, which smells grassy. The science ↓

Artificial Milk

Ingredients

Directions

In a warm bowl, combine ½ pint of water, 1 ounce of sugar, ½ ounce of dry egg white, and 15 grains of carbonate of soda.
Whisk in 1 to 2 ounces of olive oil or other pure fat to create an emulsion.
Add another ½ pint of water to achieve the consistency of milk.
For a cream-like texture, dissolve 30 grains of gelatin in the mixture if desired.

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.

Grape + olivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,110 recipes

Shared aroma: cis-2-hexenal (grassy).
Grape + gelatintop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together95 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-pinene (pine, resin).
Egg + gelatintop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,449 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Grape + eggtop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,690 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg + olivetop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).