Name: Convalescent Diet
Ingredients: 12 oz. of Bread; 1 pint of Milk; 12 oz. of undressed Meat (leg and shoulder of Mutton); 1 lb. of Potatoes; 1 pint of Gruel or 1 pint of Broth

Why it works: Milk and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,611 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Convalescent Diet

Ingredients

12 oz. of Bread
1 pint of Milk
12 oz. of undressed Meat (leg and shoulder of Mutton)
1 lb. of Potatoes
1 pint of Gruel or 1 pint of Broth

Directions

Serve 12 oz. of bread daily.
Provide 1 pint of milk for breakfast.
Roast or boil 12 oz. of undressed meat (leg and shoulder of mutton).
Serve the meat with 1 lb. of potatoes.
Serve either 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth for supper.

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.

Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Bread + muttontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,488 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Meat + muttontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together936 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).