Name: Infusion of Rhubarb
Ingredients: ¼ ounce rhubarb root, bruised; ¼ pint boiling water; 1 ounce spirit of cinnamon

Why it works: Rhubarb and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 279 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

Infusion of Rhubarb

Ingredients

¼ ounce rhubarb root, bruised
¼ pint boiling water
1 ounce spirit of cinnamon

Directions

Macerate the rhubarb in a closed container with the boiling water for 12 hours.
Add the spirit of cinnamon and strain the mixture.
This infusion can be taken in doses of 2 to 4 tablespoons.

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.

Rhubarb + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together279 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Spirit + cinnamontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together150 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Rhubarb + spirittop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together46 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).