Name: Hickorynut Macaroons
Ingredients: hickorynuts, ground fine; mixed ground allspice; mixed ground nutmeg; butter, for greasing

Why it works: Allspice and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,331 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Hickorynut Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

hickorynuts, ground fine
mixed ground allspice
mixed ground nutmeg
butter, for greasing

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

In a bowl, combine ground hickorynuts, allspice, and nutmeg.
Make a frosting similar to cake frosting and stir in the hickorynut mixture until it is easy to handle.
Flour your hands and shape the mixture into balls about the size of a large nutmeg.
Place the balls on greased baking sheets, leaving space for them to spread.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.

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.

Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,331 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together24,377 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,325 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).