Name: Ratafia of Raspberries
Ingredients: 10 pounds raspberries; 4 pounds sugar; 10 pints brandy; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon cloves

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Ratafia of Raspberries

Ingredients

Directions

Infuse the raspberries, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, and cloves for 15 days, stirring the mixture every day.
Strain it through a bag and filter it.

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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Brandy + cinnamontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,199 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Brandy + clovetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,362 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Raspberries: Provide the main fruit flavor and aroma that the brandy extracts over the infusion.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the fruit and the spirit.
Brandy: Acts as the solvent that extracts flavor from the fruit and spices, and preserves the liqueur.
Cinnamon: Adds warm, sweet spice aroma to the infusion.
Cloves: Contribute a pungent, warm spice note that rounds out the flavor.