Name: Raspberry Water of Raspberry Jam
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons raspberry jam; 6 lemons; water; a little cochineal; a little syrup

Why it works: Raspberry and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,109 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Raspberry Water of Raspberry Jam

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam.
Squeeze the juice from 6 lemons into the bowl.
Add enough water to fill the bowl.
Add a little cochineal for color.
Stir in a little syrup to taste.
Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove seeds.

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.

Raspberry + lemontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,109 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Lemon + syruptop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,235 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together377 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Raspberry jam: Provides the main raspberry flavor and natural sweetness to the drink.
Lemons: Contribute acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
Cochineal: Adds a red color to the drink.