Name: Green Gage Plums
Ingredients: green gage plums, largest and ripe but not overripe; vine leaves; water; sugar for syrup

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Green Gage Plums

Ingredients

green gage plums, largest and ripe but not overripe
vine leaves
water
sugar for syrup

Directions

Gather plums just before they are ripe, ensuring they are free from specks.
Lay vine leaves in the bottom of a pan, layering the plums with leaves in between.
Cover the plums with more leaves and fill the pan with water.
Heat on moderate fire until thoroughly hot, then skim the surface.
Transfer the plums to a sieve to cool, then peel them.
Return the peeled plums to the boiling water with fresh leaves and boil for three minutes.
Keep the plums at a moderate distance from the fire for six to seven hours until they turn green.
Drain the plums in a sieve, then boil them in a clear syrup once a day for three days.
Place the plums in glasses or jars, skim the syrup, and pour it over the plums when nearly cold.
Cover with brandy paper and tie securely.

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.

Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,313 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Plum + syruptop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together143 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).