Name: Angelica Comfits
Ingredients: fine stems of angelica; hot water; cold water; syrup (sugar and water mixture)

Why it works: Syrup and sugar 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 ↓

Angelica Comfits

Ingredients

fine stems of angelica
hot water
cold water
syrup (sugar and water mixture)

Directions

Cut angelica into small rings.
Blanch the rings in hot water, then transfer to cold water.
Drain the rings and place them in syrup.
Boil until the syrup reaches a pearl stage.
Remove from syrup and place on sieves to dry in a warm area, turning occasionally to prevent sticking.
Once dry, place them in a comfit pan and coat as you would with cinnamon comfits.

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.

Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Angelica + syruptop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together111 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Angelica + sugartop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together487 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).