Name: Yellow, Saffron Color
Ingredients: 1 pint water; 2 ounces Spanish saffron; 12 ounces sugar; 1 ounce powdered alum; ½ cup spirits of wine

Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Yellow, Saffron Color

Ingredients

Directions

In a basin, combine 1 pint of water, 2 ounces of Spanish saffron, 12 ounces of sugar, and 1 ounce of powdered alum.
Boil the mixture for 8 to 10 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a damp flannel bag.
Once cold, add ½ cup of spirits of wine and bottle for use.

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.

Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together701 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Saffron + winetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together282 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Saffron + spirittop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together69 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sugar + spirittop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together602 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Saffron + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together650 recipes

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