Name: Tincture of Rhubarb
Ingredients: 2 ounces rhubarb root, sliced; 1½ ounces cardamom seeds, bruised; 2 drachms saffron; 2 pints proof spirit

Why it works: Cardamom and saffron match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Tincture of Rhubarb

Ingredients

2 ounces rhubarb root, sliced
1½ ounces cardamom seeds, bruised
2 drachms saffron
2 pints proof spirit

Directions

Combine the rhubarb root, cardamom seeds, saffron, and proof spirit in a jar.
Let the mixture stand for two weeks in a warm place.
After two weeks, filter the mixture.

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.

Cardamom + saffrontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together342 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rhubarb + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together35 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Rhubarb + saffrontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Rhubarb + spirittop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together46 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Saffron + spirittop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together69 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).